Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport became the first airport in the northeast to get ‘Digi Yatra’ facility. The Digi Yatra service will be available in three major areas of the airport, namely - first entrance, check-in and boarding areas.
Assam Industries & Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary while speaking on the occasion said (as quoted by PTI), "Earlier, people needed to wait in long queues at Guwahati airport. This will be a thing of the past from now,"
Meanwhile, Union Civil Aviation Secretary Rajeev Bansal while noting that Digi Yatra is a new initiative and more progress will be made in the future said, “Passengers will be able to register their documents on the ‘Digi Yatra’ app and enter the airport by scanning their faces. The gate will open as soon as the face will be recognised on the camera,"
Utpal Baruah, Chief Airport Officer, LBBI, noted that the facility will make air travel hassle-free and hoped that a majority of passengers in the North East will use this facility in future.
He added that the Digi Yatra facility is currently available only for Indigo and Akasa passengers at Guwahati airport, but added that it will soon be offered by other airlines as well.
What is Digi Yatra initiative?
According to a release from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Digi Yatra uses facial recognition technology to provide a seamless and hassle-free experience to passengers at airports. The aim of Digi Yatra facility is to eliminate the need for verification of tickets and IDs at various touch points.
The ministry noted that no personally identifiable information (PII) of passengers is stored during the Digi Yatra process and all passenger data is encrypted and stored in their smartphone wallet.
