Tender process begins for biometric boarding at four Indian airports

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued the first requests for proposals (RFPs) for four airports to deploy the Digi Yatra system to enable passengers to board flights with facial recognition, the Financial Express reports.

The government-run Varanasi, Pune, Kolkata and Vijayawada airports have been chosen for the system’s initial roll-out, with companies invited to develop the logistics and implement the system. The Financial Express reports that an AAI official said the roll-out is expected to be finished by April 30, 2019. Private airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are also expected to implement Digi Yatra for biometric boarding, perhaps as soon as January, and previous reports indicate those deployments would be used to test the system.

The Indian government is planning to deploy kiosks in strategic locations to enable Digi Yatra enrollment, which can be completed either with or without using Aadhaar as a means of identity verification. Digi Yatra is expected to reduce waiting times and overall costs, and does not impose additional cost on the traveler.

Biometric deployments for the air travel industry are expected to take off as roughly three-quarters of airlines and airports are making investments in the technology to cope with a looming capacity crunch.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometrics  |  Digi Yatra  |  facial recognition  |  India  |  passenger processing  |  travel and tourism