India’s biometric-based airport travel platform Digi Yatra has surpassed 10 crore passenger journeys across 38 airports, with the government announcing plans to expand the facility to 27 more airports by next year as part of a broader push towards technology-driven air travel.
The announcement was made by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday. According to the ministry, the Digi Yatra app has registered more than 2.4 crore downloads across Android and iOS platforms, making it one of the most widely adopted digital aviation initiatives in the country.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu stated that the expansion comes at a time when domestic air traffic is experiencing growth and airports are increasingly relying on digital tools to enhance passenger handling and operational efficiency.
Digi Yatra expansion plans as air traffic rises
“Right now, Digi Yatra is active at 38 airports, and by next year, 27 more airports will be enabled,” Naidu mentioned as quoted by PIB.
He also announced that three upcoming greenfield airports-Navi Mumbai, Bhogapuram and Jewar will be fully Digi Yatra-enabled when they become operational.
The minister noted that India’s annual passenger traffic is projected to reach 50 crore by 2030 and nearly 100 crore by 2040. He also said that digital solutions like Digi Yatra, self-baggage drop facilities, enhanced air traffic control automation systems, AI-powered digital twins, and the AirSewa grievance portal will play a crucial role in managing future growth.
As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s post on X, the milestone reflects India’s progress towards “smarter, seamless and technology-driven air travel”, with millions of passengers benefiting from faster check-ins, smoother airport entry and hassle-free boarding.
Airport entry time reduced to five seconds
The ministry mentioned that Digi Yatra significantly reduces airport entry times by replacing manual document verification with facial recognition-based authentication.
According to the ministry, average passenger processing time at airport entry points has dropped from around 15 seconds to just 5 seconds per traveller.
All about Facial Recognition Technology (FTR) used in Digi Yatra
The platform enables contactless movement through airport checkpoints by using Facial Recognition Technology (FTR), helping reduce queues and congestion at terminals. According to PIB, the paperless process led to sustainability efforts by reducing the use of printed boarding passes and saving thousands of sheets of paper daily.
As highlighted by the Ministry through a post on X, Digi Yatra is described as ‘seamless, secure and voluntary” travel solution and one of India’s fastest growing airport passenger experience platforms.
11 more regional languages, privacy safeguards planned
At present, the Digi Yatra app supports 11 languages. The government plans to add 11 more regional languages by the end of this year to make the platform more accessible to passengers across the country.
The ministry also underlined that the platforms follow a privacy-by design architecture. Passenger data remains encrypted and stored on the user’s device, and is shared with the departure airport only for a limited period required for verification.