Hassle-Free Air Travel: First Phase Of Digi Yatra Scheme Planned To Go Live At Selected Airports Next Year, Says Govt

The government on Thursday (16 December) said that the first phase of the Digi Yatra Biometric Boarding scheme is planned to go live at selected airports next year.

"Four Airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) namely Varanasi, Pune, Kolkata and Vijayawada and three joint venture airports namely Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL), Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) have completed preliminary testing of the Digi Yatra Biometric boarding system with registration only for the 'Day of Travel'," Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Retired) V K Singh said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Saba.

Further, it will facilitate optimised utilisation of resources of airports, airlines etc, the minister said.

Digi Yatra Central Eco-system is aligned to the global processes of IATA Travel Pass for interoperability for seamless international travel.

Digi Yatra Scheme is to be implemented across various airports in a phased manner, the minister said.

"In first phase, it is planned to go live at selected airports in the year 2022," he added.

The minister also informed that the AAI has taken up development of new airports and expansion or upgradation of existing airports with an investment pipeline of Rs 25,000 crores in next 4-5 years which includes expansion and modification of existing terminals, setting up new terminals, expansion or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks etc.

According to a government's policy document, "Every passenger, (Indian citizens and foreigners) will become a “Digi Yatri” and enjoy the privileges and benefits of the “Digi Yatra” Programme".

The document says that “The Digi Yatra” intends to give a seamless, hassle-free and paperless journey experience to every air traveller in India.

"Using cutting edge Identity Management and “Face recognition” technologies, it aims to simplify the Passenger processes at various check points in the Airport right from the terminal entry gate, check-in/ bag drop, security check and boarding gate," says the document.

"With Digi Yatra, Passengers will no longer need to show their tickets/ boarding passes and their physical Identity cards at many of the check points at the Airport, since the ticket/bording pass is integrated with the Identity document. This will lead to reduced queue waiting times, faster processing times and simpler processes," it adds.