DigiYatra facilities starts at the Delhi, Varanasi and Bangalore airport

Tags: National

The Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the Digi Yatra facility at the IGI Airport in New Delhi on 1 December 2022. This facility has also been simultaneously launched at the Kempegowda International Airport Bangalore, and the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi. Initially the DigiYatra facility will be only for domestic flights. 

Initially 7 airports were selected under the Digi Yatra facility. In the first phase it has been rolled out in Delhi, Varanasi and Bangalore. In the second phase it will be rolled out in 4 more airports by March 2023.

The Government plans to roll out the DigiYatra facility at GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Hyderabad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata, Pune International airport Pune, and at the Vijayawada International Airport, Vijaywada in the second phase by March 2023.  Later, the facility would be implemented across various airports in the country.

The beta version of the service was introduced at Delhi and Bengaluru airports on Independence Day this year.

What is DigiYatra? 

DigiYatra is based on facial recognition technology and will make the boarding process faster and seamless.

Passengers will have to register on the DigiYatra app through their respective Aadhaar cards to avail the service.

The initiative will automate the entry and verification of passengers at all airports checkpoints and will use facial features to establish a traveller’s identity and link it to their respective boarding passes. 

This will result in shorter wait times in lines, quicker processing times, and simpler procedures for the passengers.

Who developed the DigiYatra?

Digi Yatra has been promoted by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.  To develop a facial recognition system at the airports, Digi Yatra Foundation was set up in 2019.

The Digi Yatra Foundation is a joint venture of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Cochin International Airport (CIAL), Bangalore International Airport (BIAL), Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL), Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL) & Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).