Digi Yatra trials for international flyers begin at 7 airports; rollout set for 2027

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Sunday said Digi Yatra trials for international passengers have started at seven airports and the wider rollout of the facility is expected in 2027.

It will be available on a trial basis for Indian nationals holding e-passports for select international flights of Air India and IndiGo.

Based on facial recognition technology, Digi Yatra provides for contactless and seamless movement of passengers at various checkpoints at airports. It is currently available at various domestic airports.

In a release, the ministry said Digi Yatra trials for international passengers are being conducted at seven airports -- Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Mumbai, Chennai and Amritsar.

Feedback received during the trial period from November to December this year will be utilised for the planning of the wider rollout of the technology in 2027.

According to the ministry, the trials will allow eligible Indian nationals holding e-passports to use the Digi Yatra at designated airport touchpoints while travelling on select international flights operated by Air India and IndiGo.

"Eligible passengers will be able to use the facility at terminal entry points, Security Hold Areas (SHA) and boarding gates, wherever the required infrastructure is available," the release said.

The ministry said the facility is to complement and not replace existing travel processes.

"Passengers must continue to carry their travel documents and complete all mandatory airline document checks, immigration procedures and other applicable travel formalities," it added.

For international travel, eligible Indian nationals must create an e-passport-based Verifiable Credential (VC) through the Digi Yatra mobile application.

The process involves scanning the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) of the e-passport, reading the embedded chip using the Near Field Communication (NFC) feature of a compatible smartphone, capturing a selfie and verifying the details, the release said.

The credentials will be stored in the passenger's Digi Yatra wallet on the device.

At present, Digi Yatra platform has over 26.5 million users.

It has enabled more than 110 million journeys across 39 domestic airports and 25 more domestic airports are planned to be covered by 2027, the release said.