Hyderabad Airport Becomes First In India To Introduce Facial Recognition For Passengers

There are multiple things that one needs to keep in mind before boarding a flight, making it quite stressful at times. Reaching the airport at the correct time, carrying all the valid id cards, and the most important- collecting boarding pass.

What if one can skip several steps before boarding the flight? What if your face becomes your boarding pass?

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, to make the passenger’s travel hassle-free, is likely to install facial recognition technology that will obsolete the need for a ticket or even authentication.

Under the ‘Digi Yatra’ initiative, the airport introduced the facial recognition system only at entry points, where passengers can apply for a Digi Yatra ID after producing required details and facial recognition data.

This information can help a passenger to quickly pass through several security checks without the need for a boarding pass. The motive behind the initiative is to make the security process paperless without compromising security.

For the first time, users of the facial recognition technology, one has to undergo a one-time verification at the departure gate. Once cleared, the biometric data will be stored in the Digi Yatra ID.

FR Trial Underwent Earlier This Month

Earlier this month, between July 1 – July 3, the Hyderabad airport ran a facial recognition trial at the airport entry points. Passengers travelling with hand baggage to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Vizag, Vijayawada, and Chennai underwent the trials.

One of the officials told the media that on the first day of the trial, around 180 passengers enrolled voluntarily for DigiYatra trials.

Trials for face recognition technology for faster and seamless check-in will soon be open to passengers at the @RGIAHyd. Checking in is going to be easier than ever before. #RGIA #DigiYatra #FirstInIndia #FaceRecognition #TravelSmart @HiHyderabad @ACIAPAC @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/f0NeoMKaSc

— RGIA Hyderabad (@RGIAHyd) June 29, 2019

During the trial phase, an exclusive e-gate was made at the Departure Gate No 3 of the airport, where the passengers enrolling for the Facial Recognition (FR) trial can get the boarding card scanned and later face the FR Camera which would match and verify the credentials.

Once verification is completed, the passenger gets checked-in, and the e-gate will open automatically.

However, during the trial phase, the security personnel- CISF still physically verified the travel docs and ID details of FR- registered passenger at the departure gate.

One of the airport officials told The Times Of India during the trial phase that if the trial is successful, then it will be used for security checks as well.

On July 6, the CISF officials explained about the facial recognition tech to the Union Home Minister – Amit Shah.

MA Ganapathy, Additional Director General (ADG), CISF, gave a presentation to the minister about the role of the technology in safeguarding the airport.

Also Read: Now An Automated Facial Recognition System To Help Police Track Suspects