MUMBAI: It’s neither Delhi nor Bengaluru, the largest percentage of passengers who use the biometrics-enabled DigiYatra app for seamless access through checkpoints at airport terminals are in Varanasi, followed by Vijayawada. In the past week, 76% of passengers from Varanasi airport used DigiYatra, shows data collected by civil aviation ministry. For Vijayawada airport, that figure was 62%. Compare that to Delhi and Bengaluru, where the users made up for only 19% and 14% respectively.
DigiYatra uses facial biometric verification technology to allow passengers access into the airport terminal, clear security and board aircraft. It does away with the conventional methods which involve manual verification of air tickets and identity cards to move through an airport.
Though Delhi and Bengaluru had a comparatively fewer percentage of digi users, it should be noted that the base for these metro airports are much higher. In Delhi, 6.48 lakh passengers have used the app in the past six months, while for Bengaluru the number was 5 lakh. In comparison, only 2.25 lakh passengers used the app in Varanasi, while in Vijayawada it was about 47,000. Digiyatra was launched by the government on December 1 last year with Bengaluru and Varanasi airports in phase-1.
Apart from these four airports, DigiYatra is available at Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad airports. Mumbai airport is expected to get the facility soon. Up until June 20, over 17 lakh passengers have used the app.
“In the DigiYatra process, there is no central storage of passengers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data. All passenger data is encrypted and stored in the wallet of the passengers’ smartphone and shared only for a limited time duration with the airport of travel origin where the passenger’s DigiYatra ID needs to be validated,” said the ministry of civil aviation.
“The data is purged from the system within 24 hours of the flight. The data is shared by passengers directly, only when they travel and only with the origin airport. The data cannot be used by any other entity since it’s encrypted and cannot be shared with any stakeholders,” it added.
DigiYatra uses facial biometric verification technology to allow passengers access into the airport terminal, clear security and board aircraft. It does away with the conventional methods which involve manual verification of air tickets and identity cards to move through an airport.
Though Delhi and Bengaluru had a comparatively fewer percentage of digi users, it should be noted that the base for these metro airports are much higher. In Delhi, 6.48 lakh passengers have used the app in the past six months, while for Bengaluru the number was 5 lakh. In comparison, only 2.25 lakh passengers used the app in Varanasi, while in Vijayawada it was about 47,000. Digiyatra was launched by the government on December 1 last year with Bengaluru and Varanasi airports in phase-1.
Apart from these four airports, DigiYatra is available at Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad airports. Mumbai airport is expected to get the facility soon. Up until June 20, over 17 lakh passengers have used the app.
“In the DigiYatra process, there is no central storage of passengers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data. All passenger data is encrypted and stored in the wallet of the passengers’ smartphone and shared only for a limited time duration with the airport of travel origin where the passenger’s DigiYatra ID needs to be validated,” said the ministry of civil aviation.
“The data is purged from the system within 24 hours of the flight. The data is shared by passengers directly, only when they travel and only with the origin airport. The data cannot be used by any other entity since it’s encrypted and cannot be shared with any stakeholders,” it added.
