Digiyatra: An initiative for seamless passage through airport
- DigiYatra aims to provide airline travellers a "digitally unified flying experience" across all stages of their journey.
- The Ministry has also constituted a technical committee which would come out with a white paper on providing a digital experience to passengers.
FollowBiometric information can ensure quick and seamless experience, however, it is said that Aadhaar won't be made mandatory and passengers can use the existing methods too. Under the ‘digi yatra’ initiative, the civil aviation ministry is looking to make boarding pass and security check-ins digital at airports using Aadhaar and mobile phones.
In its attempt to minimise paperwork for air travel, the government is looking to rollout a digital system for airport entry and boarding flights using a flier’s Aadhaar number and mobile phone.
The government has decided to provide biometric entry passes for employees of airlines, airports, ground handling agencies and other individuals working inside the aerodromes. There is continuing delay in implementing the biometric entry pass system even as the Civil Aviation Ministry is working on an ambitious Digiyatra initiative for seamless and paperless travel for the passengers.
Sources said the plan was to put in place biometric access control system across 43 airports from December 2016. Then it was extended to March this year and now the date of its implementation is yet to be finalised.
A source at the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said the delay is "due to technical issues" being faced by the National Informatics Centre (NIC)--the implementing authority for the governments IT-based initiatives.
However, it could not be immediately ascertained if the delay was on account of uncertainties as the Supreme Court is yet to decide on the privacy issues raised with respect to linking Aadhaar for certain purposes.
During discussions between Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and industry stakeholders, the idea of having airfare trends analytics for passengers also came up.
According to a source privy to today's meeting, such an analytics tool would first require a reservoir of data collected from airlines, airports and travel portals.
Historical data thus gathered can help identify fare trends which can be made public, the source added. Apart from enabling passengers to make an informed decision while planning their travel, the ministry is keen to have analytics for airfare trends to ensure more transparency, the source said.
Steep fluctuations in air ticket prices have been a matter of debate in various quarters and some time back there were suggestions to cap the fares.
Airlines follow a dynamic pricing mechanism for the tickets that is mainly dependent on demand trends. Having an analytics system would help passengers to have an understanding of possible peaks and troughs over a longer time period.
Currently, many travel portals provide information on future airfare trends. While the idea of having an analytics system for airfares is still at an early stage, Sinha acknowledged that there are concerns from airlines over sharing data about passengers who fly with them.
"Airlines are concerned about data sharing and data protection. But we will do this in a collaborative manner," Sinha said at a press briefing. The Ministry has also constituted a technical committee which would come out with a white paper on providing a digital experience to passengers.
