Airports Authority of India (AAI): Aadhaar-linked air travel to begin from 2018

Aadhaar card has now taken over the entire system including the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Air travel in India is all set to become fully biometric reliant and thus paperless. In a latest turn, SITA, an air transport IT communication service provider has collaborated for government's Digi-Yatra concept to enable the big plan. Maneesh Jaikrishna, Vice-President for SITA, has opined that passengers will be able to use their bio-metric identity with ease and anywhere as the plan includes tie-ups between the databases of airports, airlines and other stakeholders involved in the process.
Addressing the media, AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said, "This solution provides the passenger an option to enter Aadhaar number while booking. At the airport entry, an E-gate will read the ticket's bar code containing ticket information and Aadhaar information. The system will authenticate travel details and the passenger will present biometric for Aadhaar authentication. On successful authentication, the E-gate will open."


Under this system, airport security primarily will get digital. To prove their identity, the travellers will use stored biometrics to enter terminals. As soon as they do this, their Aadhaar-linked airline database will provide all the necessary information like what flight they are booked on. Then the linked airport databases will show all the security screened along with allowing access to boarding gate. With the introduction of these processes, gradually the paper ID cards, tickets and boarding passes will get extinct.
"Thereafter passengers can access services such as check-in, security check, and boarding using QR Code or biometric. Passengers opting for an identity other than Aadhaar will have to go through the manual process of verification by CISF at the entry gate. Digi yatra will enable more services to be delivered as self-service," Mohapatra added.

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