Soon your face will be boarding pass at Pune airport

Pune – The passengers traveling from the Pune airport will not to have to wait in long queues while checking in near future. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to use the latest face recognition technology to increase the safety of the airplane and to relieve the passengers from the ‘check-in’ queue. The ticket will be scanned and you have to just look into the camera to check in.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation is adding a Digital experience for Air Travellers through DigiYatra Platform. The ‘DigiYatra’ is an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the Ministry in line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India’s vision to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society. This follows Air Sewa which brings together all the stakeholders on a common platform for handling customer grievances and disseminating real-time data.

According to this, passengers traveling to the airport will be automatically photographed (scanning), while the ticket will be scanned at the same time. Passengers will get access to the terminal by the same amount. This system will save passengers time and the security framework will be strengthened. The mechanism will be implemented on pilot basis at Kolkata, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Pune.

The number of security check-in counters at the Pune Airport has been increased.  In the recent past there have been incidents of people entering the airport after showing bogus boarding passes. These things can be prevented by the new system.

What is the mechanism?

After one time registration, whenever the passenger will go to the airport he will be admitted to the airport terminal after recognizing his/her face. After the passenger ‘Security check-in’, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawans will scan the photograph of the passenger and scan the photograph instead of stamping on boarding passes. After this, the concerned persons will be sent for boarding. This system will be able to prevent fraudsters who use fake tickets or other tickets. Travelers can ‘check-in’ by passing the ‘Face Recognition’ system in a traditional way, by displaying an identity card.

The platform will be built on 4 key pillars, like Connected Passengers, Connected Airports, Connected Flying and Connected Systems which can make it possible over a period of time for passengers to:

·         Plan their trips efficiently by identifying price trends and estimate future airfares at the time of ticket booking,

·         Optionally link their Aadhaar to airlines and other ecosystem players at the time of booking for faster airport entry and automated check-ins without requiring any paper-based interventions,

·         Walk-through security scanners swiftly owing to advanced biometric security solutions,

·         Receive relevant information pertaining to various facilities, protocols, airline timings, queue lengths at airports etc.,

·         Engage in customised digital offerings at experience zones,

·         Get real time notifications about congestion and delays to have greater visibility on the next step of journey,

·         Conveniently navigate through the airport using digital guidance systems, interactive kiosks and augmented reality apps,

·         Stay connected during flights and indulge in immersive experiences. Also book in-flight services and destination based offerings digitally,

·         Get a prompt when their luggage reaches the baggage claim belt , and

·         Submit grievances, share experiences and provide feedback.

The Digitising data would help the aviation industry gather meaningful insights for continuous improvement and innovation.