The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday said more than 1.6 lakh air travellers have used the DigiYatra process. In the first phase, the DigiYatra facility was introduced at three airports — Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi — on December 1, 2022. It will be rolled out at Kolkata, Pune, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad airports by March 2023, the Ministry added.
What is Digi Yatra?
Digi Yatra is a biometric boarding system that uses Facial Recognition Technology to provide a seamless and hassle-free experience for passengers at airports. According to the Ministry, it enhances passenger experience by eliminating the need for verification of ticket and ID at multiple touchpoints and provides better throughput through existing infrastructure using a Digital Framework.
“The total number of passengers who have used the Digi Yatra process at the airports from 1st Dec 22 to 14th February 23 is 1.6 lakh plus. The total app user base of Digi Yatra on the Android Play Store & iOS Apple App Store is 422K,” the Ministry said in a release.
How does it work?
The Ministry said that in the Digi Yatra process, there is no central storage of passengers’ personally identifiable information data. “All the passenger’s data is encrypted and stored in the wallet of the passenger’s smartphone and shared only for a limited time duration with the airport of travel origin where the passenger’s Digi Yatra ID needs to be validated. The data is purged from the system within 24 hours of the flight,” it added.