Biometric-enabled air travel platform Digi Yatra platform has crossed 100 million user journeys, highlighting the growing adoption of biometric-enabled air travel in India.
In a press statement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which has mounted the platform, says that Digi Yatra is now operational at 38 airports and that it has helped reduce passenger processing times and is expected to expand further as the country prepares for a sharp increase in air traffic over the coming decades.
The statement adds that the platform has significantly improved airport efficiency by reducing average passenger entry processing time from 15 seconds to just 5 seconds. The faster verification process has helped ease congestion at airport terminals, optimise infrastructure utilisation and reduce the need for manual document checks.
Also Read: Civil Aviation Day: Flying Takes Wings
The paperless travel initiative has also contributed to environmental sustainability by eliminating the need for physical boarding passes, saving thousands of sheets of paper every day across participating airports, adds the statement.
“I congratulate the Digi Yatra Team for the 100 million usage milestone, it reflects the growing trust passengers are placing in seamless, paperless and contactless travel. The scale of Digi Yatra’s adoption comes at a critical juncture. Daily domestic passenger traffic, which averaged below 200,000 passengers in 2014, has now crossed the 500,000 mark on numerous occasions over the last three years. And supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make air travel more accessible and convenient, annual passenger traffic across Indian airports is projected to reach 500 million by 2030 and double to nearly 1 billion by 2040. And to effectively manage this exponential growth, we are adopting multiple digital solutions like Digi Yatra, Self-Baggage Drop Facility, Augmentation of Air Traffic Control Automation Systems, AirSewa portal for grievance redressal and AI-powered digital twins to optimise airport operations,” says Ram Mohan Naidu, Minister for Civil Aviation.
“While many nations continue to evaluate the large-scale deployment of biometric passenger processing, India has successfully operationalised and scaled Digi Yatra within a remarkably short timeframe. Right now, Digi Yatra is active at 38 airports, and by next year, 27 more airports will be enabled. I am also pleased to share that the major greenfield airport projects operationalising this year; Navi Mumbai, Jewar and Bhogapuram will all be fully Digi Yatra-enabled,” Naidu says.
“We are making the platform significantly more inclusive. Digi Yatra currently supports 11 languages, and by the end of this year, we plan to add 11 more regional languages,” Naidu adds.
The statement adds that to support this growth, the government is deploying a range of digital solutions, including Digi Yatra, self-baggage-drop facilities, enhanced air traffic control automation systems, the AirSewa grievance redressal portal and AI-powered digital twins to improve airport operations.