A mere facial scan will soon help passengers to zip through multiple check points at airports and avoid long queues.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation at a press conference on October 4, shared the details of its "Digi Yatra" initiative, which provides for digital processing of passengers at airports.
Air travellers will have to register themselves at a web portal and provide details like name, email, mobile number and an identity proof as well as a photograph. Following this a Digi Yatra profile of the passenger will be created and an identification number will be generated.
The identification number will have to be provided at the time of booking a ticket. This will enable passengers to enter the airport building by merely scanning the QR code on their e-ticket along with a facial scan.
Even within the airport, with a facial scan passengers will be able to seamlessly move from one to point to another such as self check- in kiosks, baggage drop kiosks, security check area and embarkation area without producing a ticket or a boarding pass each time.
Passengers will however still be screened and frisked as part of the mandatory security requirement.
Facial-recognition enabled travel can be experienced at Bangalore and Hyderabad airports starting February 2019. The facility will be available at Pune, Kolkata, Varanasi, Vijayawada airports by April.