Bangalore Airport extends biometric-based self-boarding facility to AirAsia

Prem Watsa's Fairfax group-owned Bangalore International Airport has extended its biometric-based self-boarding process facility to budget carrier AirAsia India, a year after the private aerodrome operator rolled it out for airlines.

Under the digital boarding process, which is optional, the passengers can simply enrol their ID and biometric data, combined with their flight details, before entering the terminal.

The safe and contactless facility was first rolled out by the Bangalore International Airport for Tata-SIA airline, Vistara, in July last year.

Bangalore International Airport's ambitious DigiYatra project for seamless flow of passengers from registration to boarding has just got bigger and better with AirAsia India joining the facility, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said in a release.

DigiYatra facility, which is an initiative of the civil aviation ministry and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), seeks to minimise paperwork for air travel under a digital system or e-boarding process for airport entry and boarding flights using documents such as a passenger's Aadhaar number and mobile phone number.

Following the adoption of the facility, AirAsia India guests travelling from Bengaluru airport can now travel hassle-free by simply enrolling their facial biometric and ID card validation at one of the 11 kiosks at the Kerb, the release said.

As they travel through the airport, they will be authenticated and verified at every touchpoint by state-of-the-art biometric technology. This process offers the highest degree of safety and security while ensuring stringent standards of privacy, it said.

In addition, the passenger data is deleted within a few hours of flight completion, it added.

"The implementation of biometric recognition systems is quickly proving essential to enable safe, convenient and contactless travel experiences. To enable enhanced safety and security for our guests, AirAsia India has collaborated with Bangalore Airport for the implementation of the DigiYatra facility," said Sunil Bhaskaran, managing director and chief executive officer, AirAsia India.

He added that DigiYatra services are another step in our continuous focus on leveraging technology to redefine the new norms of travel with emergent solutions that alleviate the guest experience and enable social distancing.

In November 2018, AirAsia India, in collaboration with BIAL, which is its main operational hub, had launched the self-bag-drop facility, enhancing self-service options to minimise wait time at counters, to offer a seamless travel experience for their guests.

BIAL MD & CEO Hari Marar said, "At Bengaluru airport, we have been following stringent safety and hygiene protocols and we believe that the tech-enabled biometric journey is another step towards healthy, secure and hassle-free travel."

He added that this project will continue the process of transforming passenger journeys unleashing the power of the country's first all-biometric flow operation, where 'your face is your boarding pass'. BIAL continues to leverage technology to make travel seamless across customer touchpoints, Marar said.

The facility will be optional for passengers as they can choose either to register for Digi Yatra or go through the existing manual process, said the release.

In September 2018, BIAL had inked a deal with self-boarding biometric platform Vision-Box to launch paperless biometric self-boarding technology at its airport.