Face recognition trials for passengers at Delhi Airport to begin from Friday

Passengers' entry would be automatically processed based on facial recognition system at all check points including airport entry, entry into Security Checks, and aircraft boarding at IGI Airport.

New Delhi: Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) will begin testing the facial recognition technology for flyers at the Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport from Friday.

GMR-led DIAL on Thursday announced that on Friday (September 6), it will roll-out a three-month trial to demonstrate Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel Experience (BEST), based on Facial Recognition Technology.

DIAL will launch the trial with Vistara at Terminal 3 or T3 of the IGI Airport . After successful completion of the trial, the facility would be officially launched at T3 and subsequently at other terminals of Delhi Airport.

With this technology, passengers' entry would be automatically processed based on facial recognition system at all check points including airport entry, entry into Security Checks, and aircraft boarding.

As part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s “Digi Yatra” policy, the trial will give an end-to-end solution to the passengers to understand the seamless flow of process.

“This is an integrated solution for the e- gates, Facial recognition cameras, software platform from one player. It will be truly a seamless experience for the passengers . Participation in the trials is purely voluntary and at discretion of the passengers. A suitable consent form will be signed by the passengers. This trial will run for 3 months. Subsequent roll - out plans will be made,” DIAL spokesperson said.

How will the Biometric facial recognition will work?

The enrollment process for the passengers with valid flight tickets and government ID proofs will start at the registration kiosk. Post this, their facial details will be captured by the camera. Simultaneously, the documents provided by the passenger will be validated by a CISF personnel present at the kiosk.

The CISF personnel will physically check the applicant’s ID proof and confirm on the system. Subsequently, the passenger can approach the dedicated departure e-gate , which is fitted with facial recognition cameras. The e-gates will open automatically after the facial recognition process is completed . The passenger can then proceed towards the check - in counters to drop their bags. If they are not carrying any bags, they can head straight to security screening, where the facial recognition cameras are installed.

Once the passenger clears the security screening formality he/she can go and board his flight through the dedicated boarding e-gates. These gates too open automatically after the camera recognizes the passenger’s registered face.

How long will the passenger data be stored?

During the trial period, the biometric details will be stored temporarily only to enable the departure process. As soon as the flight departs, the data of the registered passengers will be deleted. There will be no storage of the biometric details by the Airport.

DIAL said that it has taken this initiative with the help of technical and software support provided by Vision Box, a multinational technology company headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal.