Digi Yatra Explained: A Seamless Journey For Air Travellers

NEW DELHI, India – India's air travel experience is undergoing a significant transformation with the widespread adoption of Digi Yatra, a biometric-enabled digital processing system designed to offer a seamless and paperless journey for passengers. This initiative, leveraging facial recognition technology, aims to revolutionize how air travellers navigate through Indian airports.

What is Digi Yatra?

Digi Yatra is an initiative by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, India, that allows passengers to pass through various airport checkpoints – including entry gates, security checks, and boarding gates – using their facial features as their identity, linked to their boarding pass. It aims to reduce physical contact points, minimize queues, and enhance overall efficiency and security.

How It Works:

To use Digi Yatra, passengers first need to register on the Digi Yatra mobile application. This involves:

1. Registration: Downloading the app and registering with a mobile number and a government-issued ID (like Aadhaar or Passport) for self-verification.
2. Facial Scan: Uploading a clear selfie, which acts as their facial biometric template.
3. Boarding Pass Linking: Linking their flight's boarding pass (with PNR) to their Digi Yatra ID for each journey. At the airport, passengers then proceed to designated Digi Yatra e-gates. A facial recognition system scans their face, verifies their identity against their linked boarding pass, and allows them access. This process is repeated at subsequent checkpoints, making the journey touchless and swift.

How It Benefits Air Travellers:

• Faster Airport Navigation: Significantly reduces waiting times at entry gates, security checks, and boarding, ensuring quicker movement through the airport.
• Paperless and Hassle-Free: Eliminates the need to repeatedly present physical boarding passes and ID cards, contributing to a truly paperless travel experience.
• Enhanced Security: The biometric authentication adds a robust layer of security, ensuring that only verified passengers access different airport zones.
• Convenience: Provides a smoother and more convenient experience, especially for frequent flyers, making air travel less stressful.
• Privacy Assured: The system is designed with privacy in mind; biometric data is encrypted and stored locally on the passenger's mobile device, not on a central server, and is purged within 24 hours of flight departure.