Your face is your boarding pass from next year at KIA

Your face, captured using biometric technology, will suffice to facilitate a seamless journey through the airport.

BENGALURU:From early next year, right from stepping into the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) up to the point of boarding your flight, you no longer need to carry your boarding pass, passport and other personal identification documents.

Your face, captured using biometric technology, will suffice to facilitate a seamless journey through the airport. Domestic passengers of SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Air Asia stand to benefit initially.
This follows an agreement signed in Portugal on Thursday between Hari Marar, CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited, which operates KIA, and Miguel Litman, CEO of Vision Box, a global player in electronic identity solutions, said an official release. Portuguese PM  António Costa and the Indian ambassador to Portugal Nandini Singla were present. “Bengaluru airport will become the first in India to have an end-to-end solution for paperless air travel,” the release added.

This project will be implemented under the Centre’s Digi Yatra project. “Your face is your boarding pass,” said Marar. “Vision-Box’s state-of-the-art biometric technology, combined with its passenger flow platform, will enable a seamless journey for our passengers, without obstacles, waiting lines or hassles, from registration to boarding,”

A BIAL spokesperson told  TNIE, “Passenger needs to log on to the Digi Yatra portal run by the Aviation ministry and provide Aadhaar and a few other government identity documents. A unique ID which will be linked to the passenger’s biometrics will be generated. This ID needs to be used at the time of booking  flight ticket.”

Whenever a passenger steps into the airport, the biometric scanners placed around will automatically scan his or her face and permit passage throughout,” the spokesperson said. This ID number needs to be obtained just once and not for every journey, she added.

Initially, only domestic passengers can benefit from this technology but it will be extended to international passengers in future after the Immigration Department clears it, the spokesperson said.
“We cannot specify when exactly it will come into effect. The process has been set in motion and it will be anytime in the first quarter of 2019,” the spokesperson added. “Until the technology gets accepted, the regular security clearance checks will be carried out in the case of passengers who do not want to go through the digital process.  Registration on the portal can be done from anywhere. BIAL will also facilitate the process with special counters for it.

Vision-Box CEO Miguel Leitmann said, “This is the first end-to-end face recognition-based walk-through experience in Asia and the largest in the world. It is also one of the most significant steps towards the Digital India campaign endorsed by the government....”

CHECK-IN WILL BE A BREEZE

n Passenger needs to log on to Digi Yatra portal
n Shold provide Aadhaar and a few other government identity documents
n A unique ID linked to the passenger’s biometrics will be generated
n This ID should be used at the time of booking any flight ticket to avail paperless travel
n When passenger steps into the airport, the biometric scanners automatically scan his/her face
n Then he/she is permitted passage throughout
n This ID number needs to be obtained just once and not for every journey
n Initially, only for domestic passengers 

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