DigiYatra Platform

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has initiated “DigiYatra” which is a facial recognition technology to enter any airport in the country. DigiYatra initiative envisages implementing airline travellers in India, a digitally unified flying experience across all stages of their journey. It is an industry-led initiative that facilitates the passengers with a hassle-free air travel experience. Let us look in detail about the DigiYatra platform in this article. To know about the Digital Sky Platform

Key Features of DigiYatra

The DigiYatra Platform that has four key traits like connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying and Connected Systems, which can make it possible for the passengers over a period of time to do the following:

Plan the trips efficiently by finding price trends and estimate future airfares at the time of booking tickets.
Aadhaar can be linked (optional) to airlines and other ecosystem players while looking for the faster airport entry and automated check-ins that do not require any paper-based interventions.
Walk-through security scanners are quickly owing to the advanced biometric security solutions.
Receive important information concerning various facilities, airline timings, protocols, queue lengths at airports etc.
Engage in the customised digital offerings at the experience zones.
Get real-time information about the congestion and delays to have higher visibility on the next step of the journey.
Conveniently navigate through the airport terminal using digital guidance systems, augmented reality apps and interactive kiosks
Stay connected during the flights and indulge in immersive experiences. Also, passengers can book in-flight services and destination based offerings digitally.
Get a prompt when the luggage reaches the baggage claim belt.
The passengers can also submit grievances, share experiences and provide feedback.

Advantages of Digiyatra

The airport check-in and boarding time would halve by the end of the year.
Digiyatra, a technology-based initiative which will enable a passenger to opt for paper-free travel, that will aid swift entry at the airport and also automated check-ins.
The Unquie Identification Authority (UID) linked with the flight tickets will act as a digital boarding pass, and the same can be used through smartphones at all the points at an airport.
This initiative that aims to shorten the queues at the entry points, boarding areas, sub-security checks and also during exit.
This high-tech feature will be optional. The travellers will continue to have the various options of travelling the traditional way by manually collecting boarding pass at the airline counter at the airport.
The time for the passenger to avail the Digiyatra will be ranging between 10 to 15 minutes versus the 20 to 30 minutes of the manual check-in method.
The identification feature also improves the security system at airports during air travel. At present, the identification is needed only at the time of entering the airport and not for the booking process.
This will also help in executing the proposed no-fly list on unruly travellers of the Aviation Ministry as that will help in the tracking process.
The aviation ministry that conducts extensive consultations that is mainly to ensure the comprehensive traveller convenience, coverage and privacy through a stringent data protection mechanism.
The data-sharing protocol that will also be among the travel portals, security agencies and also at various concessionaires like parking and transportation providers, thus support in the seamless flying.
The burden on CISF security personnel will be reduced those who are have been engaged in keeping the airport premises safe and conducting the checks at various levels will
The MoCA assured that all the metro city airports would be within the preview of Digiyatra by the end of this year 201 9 as many Indian airports are set to go forward with it as they have been undertaking this on a pilot basis.

To know about the Udan Yojana – Regional Air Connectivity Scheme

Digiyatra Implementation Process

The provisions of this Civil Aviation Requirements are applicable to all Indian scheduled airlines and all Indian airports. The Airports such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Varanasi and Vijayawada has rolled out this programme with the pilot implementation process.

Procedure of Digital Boarding

Under this digital boarding process, the passengers can easily enrol their ID and biometric data, linked with their flight details, before entering the Airport. As the passenger travels through the airport terminal, the passengers can put their travel documents/records away, as they will be validated and verified at every touchpoint by the biometric technology.

Get Digi Yatra ID

Under the Digi Yatra, the passenger can get a Digi Yatra ID by providing minimum details such as name, e-mail address, mobile number and details of one approved Identity proof where the Aadhaar proof is not mandatory. This DigiYatra ID will be sent to the passengers while booking a ticket. The airlines will give the passenger data and DigiYatra ID with the departure airport.

Aadhaar Based verification

In case a traveller opted for the Aadhaar based verification, the identity will be validated online. On successful verification, the facial biometric will be captured and saved in the Digi Yatra ID profile of the traveller. In case the traveller has chosen a different identity for creating Digi Yatra ID, then the verification will be done manually by the Security individual, and facial biometric will be captured and saved in the Digi Yatra ID profile. By this process, the registration is complete.

Successful Registration

When the DigiYatra successfully registered passenger can go directly to the entry point that is E-Gate of the airport and scan the QR code/barcode of the air ticket or Boarding pass while a camera will capture the face for matching with the DigiYatra ID Photo. On successful verification of the flying details and facial matching, the E-Gate will open.

Acknowledgement Token

Now, the system will also generate an acknowledgement token in the system comparing the face of the traveller with PNR of the ticket, so that at subsequent check points the ticket details will be available on face recognition.

Face Recognition

At Self Bag Drop counter or check-in counter, the traveller will be recognised by face, and there is no need to give any document or ID proofs for this process. The traveller will gain entry to the security check zone through an E-Gate by facial recognition. At the boarding gate also the traveller will be recognised by face for entering through an E-Gate for boarding the aircraft.