Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) has begun testing the facial recognition technology for flyers at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. GMR-led DIAL announced that on September 6, it rolled-out a three-month trial to demonstrate Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel Experience (BEST), based on Facial Recognition Technology.
DIAL launched the trial with Vistara at Terminal 3 (or T3) of the IGI Airport . After successful completion of the trial, the facility would be officially launched at T3 and subsequently at other terminals of Delhi Airport. With this technology, passengers’ entry would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints including airport entry, entry into Security Checks, and aircraft boarding. As part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s “Digi Yatra” policy, the trial will give an end-to-end solution to the passengers to aid the seamless flow of process.
“This is an integrated solution for the e- gates, Facial Recognition cameras, software platform from one player. It will truly be a seamless experience for the passengers. Participation in the trials is purely voluntary and at the discretion of the passengers. A suitable consent form will be signed by the passengers. This trial will run for 3 months. Subsequently roll – out plans will be made,” the DIAL spokesperson said.
The enrollment process for the passengers with valid flight tickets and government ID proofs will start at the registration kiosk. Post this, their facial details will be captured by the camera. Simultaneously, the documents provided by the passenger will be validated by CISF personnel present at the kiosk.
The CISF personnel will physically check the applicant’s ID proof and confirm on the system. Subsequently, the passenger can approach the dedicated departure e-gate , which is fitted with facial recognition cameras. The e-gates will open automatically after the facial recognition process is completed . The passenger can then proceed towards the check-in counters to drop their bags. If they are not carrying any bags, they can head straight to security screening, where again the facial recognition cameras are installed.
Once the passenger clears the security screening formality he/she can go and board his flight through the dedicated boarding e-gates. These gates too open automatically after the camera recognizes the passenger’s registered face. During the trial period, the biometric details will be stored temporarily only to enable the departure process. As soon as the flight departs, the data of the registered passengers will be deleted. There will be no storage of the biometric details by the Airport. DIAL said that it has taken this initiative with the help of technical and software support provided by Vision Box, a multinational technology company headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal.
