Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) in India has launched a beta version of the contactless boarding DigiYatra app.
The DigiYatra app creates contactless, paperless processing of airport passengers, based on the use of single token face biometrics for verification of passengers. Passengers can pass through check-in and security and board their respective flights using their single token face biometric for validating their identity and their boarding pass.
BLR Airport began rolling out the DigiYatra central ecosystem (DYCE) on August 15, 2022. The DigiYatra biometric boarding system at e-gates is now operational at the airport and being rolled out at full scale for all domestic airlines in a phased manner, covering checkpoints for domestic travel. Vistara Airlines and AirAsia are the two airlines currently integrated with DigiYatra; passengers can remotely enroll on the DigiYatra app from their homes. The app is currently available on Google Play store for Android users and an iOS version will be made available in one month.
The DYCE is being built on the standards defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which include Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) with Verifiable Credentials (VCs), Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs) with a trust layer of a Distributed Ledger and ensuring adoption of Privacy by Design and Privacy by Default as the fundamental tenets. This is intended to ensure any privacy issues are taken care of and passenger data is secure and will be deleted 24 hours after passengers have traveled.
DYCE is the initiative of the Digi Yatra Foundation (DYF), which was set up as a joint venture company in 2019, with BIAL one of the key shareholders. The DigiYatra Foundation will be a pan-India entity and the custodian of the passenger ID validation process.
Hari Marar, the managing director and CEO of BIAL, said, “It is our constant endeavor at BIAL to offer innovative ways to simplify the passenger journey and make it as seamless as possible. The Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem implementation is one more step towards achieving this. We are glad to be part of the first phase rollout and value the trust reposed in us by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA [Directorate General of Civil Aviation] and the Government of India. As the new gateway to India, BLR Airport is keen to be at the forefront of change and innovation.”
