Digi Yatra airport biometrics expand with new deployments, 15M user milestone

Digi Yatra is reshaping air travel in India with the biometrics enabled, self-sovereign identity (SSI) application growing in popularity and set for expansion.

A face biometric authentication platform, Digi Yatra has now crossed 15 million downloads and will serve four new airports. Launched in December 2022, the app has a presence across 24 airports in India and has helped to usher in smoother, frictionless journeys. It has been used for 60 million frictionless journeys since its launch, or four per download.

“Reaching the 15 million user milestone is a strong reaffirmation of the growing trust in Digi Yatra’s vision to deliver a seamless, secure, and future-ready travel experience,” said Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO, Digi Yatra Foundation.

The platform aims to serve nearly 80 per cent of domestic air travellers in India by 2028, up from the current 30 to 35 per cent, as it also collaborates with IATA and readying international pilot programs for inbound travellers with e-passports.

“Our long-term vision is to establish Digi Yatra as the ‘Travel Stack of India’, offering a secure, private, and efficient identity verification system across both physician and digital gateways,” Khadakbhavi said.

Digi Yatra is set to introduce its biometric system to four new airports: Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru and Srinagar, in the months ahead. The platform is predicted to cross 16.5 million installs by August, based on its current rate of 30,000 per day.

“In 2024, initiatives like the ‘d-KYC’ campaign, expansion to Tier-II airports, helped us connect with a wider audience,” Khadakbhavi said. “As we look ahead, our focus remains on expanding our footprint, improving user features, and setting new global benchmarks in passenger identity management.”

Additionally, the platform is set to update with support for all 22 official Indian languages. Currently in testing, the upcoming “Digi Yatra 2.0” will add functionality and increase support for international travel as it coordinates with regulatory bodies. Through its strategic collaboration with IATA under the One-ID X Digi Yatra framework, Digi Yatra is aligning with global standards to facilitate more seamless international travel.

This is in line with a global trend towards biometrics and digital identity in international air travel, with SITA and IATA among the champions of faster and more convenient journeys while still retaining security. SITA is Digi Yatra’s biometric technology partner.

Airport security consider FRT integration, biometrics for employees

Authorities are considering integrating facial recognition technology with CCTV to speed up security checks and ease lines. These measures, alongside plans to synchronize automatic number-plate recognition and vehicle FASTags, were reviewed at the CISF’s “Functional Workshop of Airport Sector” in Delhi.

Key measures discussed at the workshop include adding FRT to CCTV networks and entry gates to cut queues, digitizing standard operating procedures for faster incident response, and implementing a zoning system that restricts access to specific areas via RFID alarms. Officials hope these steps will eliminate points of friction where passengers and staff currently line up at the same gates.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), India’s national civil aviation security agency, currently oversees security at 69 airports.

The central government has approved a three-month pilot linking airport security passes for airline, airport and ground-handling staff with their vehicle registrations, biometrics and Aadhaar cards.

Led by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in partnership with CISF, the three-month pilot will launch at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and Chennai International Airport by October, according to Moneycontrol.

Under the plan, employee entry passes will be integrated with high-security number plates and RFID-enabled FASTags, while staff biometrics will be matched against Aadhaar records. At application gates, CISF personnel will verify faces and fingerprints, reducing reliance on manual ID checks.

The pilot project will launch for a period of three months, after which the project will roll out across airports in India in a phased manner, according to a senior government official quoted by Moneycontrol. Authorities expect the integration to bolster overall security, streamline personnel movements and improve VIP protection, while also making passenger journeys more seamless.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometric authentication  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  Digi Yatra  |  face biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  India