Hyderabad airport launches face recognition system on trial basis

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here has initiated Face Recognition (FR) system on a trial basis for passengers for entry into the aerodrome, sources said Tuesday. The trials, which are being carried out under Centre’s Digi Yatra programme started from July 1 and would continue till July 31, they said adding over 180 passengers enrolled voluntarily for the trials at the airport.

“The airport has set up dedicated FR Registration counters near the Domestic Departure Gates No 1 and 3. The registration is available from 8 am to 8 pm for passengers who would like a new digital experience and is completely voluntary. On the first day (July 1), over 180 passengers enrolled voluntarily for DigiYatra trials at Hyderabad Airport,” the sources said.

Digi Yatra – Digital processing of passengers at the airports. Passengers would be automatically processed based on facial recognition system at checkpoints such as entry point check, an entry into Security Check, aircraft boarding, additionally this would also facilitate self-bag drop and check-in, using facial recognition to identify pax and data recall.

Digi Yatra would facilitate paperless travel and avoid identity check at multiple points, an official release had earlier said. For FR enrollment, one can visit any of the FR Registration Counters at the airport with a valid government id card, contact details and get his or her face captured by the camera, Airport sources said.

Once this is done, a CISF personnel physically checks the applicant’s government ID proof and post successful verification, a unique DigiYatra/FR ID for the passenger is generated. An exclusive e-gate is available at the Departure Gate No 3, where the enrolled passenger can get his or her boarding card scanned, face the FR Camera, which matches and verifies the credentials along with the itinerary details.

Upon successful verification, the passenger gets checked-in and the e-gate opens all done in split seconds. “Since this is a trial phase, CISF personnel will still physically verify the travel docs and ID details of FR-registered passenger at the departure gate,” sources said. Currently, the FR trials at Hyderabad Airport are being offered to passengers travelling with hand baggage only and are those who are bound for the select cities viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Vizag and Vijayawada.