Air passengers at Visakhapatnam International Airport will soon experience a smoother and more efficient journey thanks to the new ‘DigiYatra’ facility. This system, powered by facial recognition technology, allows travellers to enter the airport and complete necessary checks using only a digital boarding pass on their mobile phones, allowing for contactless check-ins and reducing waiting times at security check areas. Passengers, thus, can finish the procedures necessary before a flight at a much quicker pace. Currently, the system is undergoing trials at the airport.
Those interested in using this service will have to download the DigiYatra app, where they must register by entering their name, phone number, and Aadhaar details. Subsequently, they must enter their flight details before the journey. Additionally, they need to take a picture of themselves and upload it. Upon reaching the airport, a QR code will be generated by the app, which the passenger must show at the e-gate, and a camera there will take their photo. The passenger’s ticket, thus, is linked to their facial recognition profile. Following this, they can easily walk through a facial scan before completing the security check and boarding. There will be separate e-gates for DigiYatra passengers.
All in all, the DigiYatra facility is set to minimise the need for manual identity checks and streamline entry point checks, security checks, airport boarding, self-bag drop and check-in through digital processing. Additionally, it also helps tighten security as the system maps passengers with their PNR, ensuring only genuine passengers proceed through each checkpoint.
In the DigiYatra process, there is no central storage of passenger’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data. All the passengers’ data is encrypted and stored in the wallet of their smartphone. It is shared only between the passenger and the airport of travel origin, where the passenger’s Digi Yatra ID needs to be validated. The data is purged from the airport’s system within 24 hours of departure of the flight. The data is shared by passengers directly, only when they travel and only to the origin Airport.
The DigiYatra facility is set to be implemented at 12 airports across the country, including Visakhapatnam International Airport, with an investment of approximately Rs 12 crores.
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