India looking to implement Aadhaar-based system for airport check-in

The Indian government has called on IT firm Wipro to develop a plan for implementing Aadhaar-based system to biometrically identify travelers at all airports across the country, according to a report by The Times of India.

Wipro is expected to submit the plan by early May, at which point, airports will begin the process of identifying travelers by scanning their thumb biometrics for all for domestic flights.

The aviation ministry had been contemplating on the possibility of linking Aadhaar numbers to air travel bookings and enabling biometric access at airports.

The decision to follow through with the initiative came at a recent meeting of various airport operators and airlines with aviation minister Jayant Sinha and aviation secretary R N Choubey.

“It was felt a joint system be developed that can be replicated by all airports,” Guruprasad Mohapatra, chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI), said. “Wipro has been asked to develop a concept note in this regard after consulting all stakeholders, including the JV airport operators. We are seeing what all airport processes can be made e-enabled.”

Mohapatra said that travelers will be asked to provide their Aadhaar numbers when they book their flight.

“Once they reach the airport they are flying out of, flyers can just keep their thumb on touch pad at entry point,” Mohapatra said. “Once inside, a similar process can be repeated at other places like check-in. We want passengers to have as seamless and effortless travel experience at airports as possible.”

As an added security precaution, travelers in India will have to present their identification card along with their boarding pass to be granted access inside airport terminals.

Previously reported, a recent ieNation article stated that 88.2 percent of India has been registered under the Aadhaar biometric identity program.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identity verification  |  India