Digi Yatra international travel is set to enter a pilot phase at five Indian airports between October and December, allowing Indian and foreign passengers to use e-passports and facial biometrics for parts of the international departure process.
The pilot will cover Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai airports. Passengers will be able to scan the embedded chip in their e-passports and verify their identity through a selfie, according to Digi Yatra Foundation CEO Suresh Khadakbhavi. A digital travel credential will then be created and stored on the passenger’s phone.
Air India and IndiGo are expected to participate in the pilot. The system will apply to Indian and foreign nationals travelling on international flights, marking an expansion of Digi Yatra beyond its existing use for paperless and contactless processing of domestic passengers at several Indian airports.
During the initial phase, Digi Yatra will be used for terminal entry and security clearance. Immigration checks will continue to be handled separately and will not initially be integrated with the system. This means passengers using the pilot will still need to complete immigration procedures through the existing process.
The proposed workflow is intended to reduce repeated physical document checks at selected airport checkpoints. After the passenger scans the e-passport and completes facial verification, the digital travel credential on the phone will be used during the eligible parts of the departure journey. The report did not specify the exact airport zones or lanes where the pilot will operate.
The expansion follows an international travel trial conducted at Bengaluru airport in April. IndiGo, Digi Yatra Foundation, Bangalore International Airport Ltd and the International Air Transport Association demonstrated a biometric-enabled international travel process during that trial.
Digi Yatra Foundation is also working towards enabling foreign nationals to use the system for domestic air travel within India. It is exploring interoperability with overseas digital identity systems, including the European Union’s digital identity framework.
For airports, the pilot will test how a digital identity layer can operate across international departure checkpoints, airlines and passenger groups from different countries. For travellers, the immediate change will be limited to terminal entry and security clearance, with immigration remaining outside Digi Yatra’s initial integration.
The pilot is expected to run from October through December at the five selected airports. Further operational details, including participating counters, passenger eligibility and implementation procedures, are expected to be provided by the participating airports, airlines and Digi Yatra Foundation.
