The use of DigiYatra, which promises a hassle-free movement of fliers right from entry to the airport till boarding, has picked up at the Kolkata airport, officials said on Tuesday.
They said the rise in the number of fliers using the app is helping ease congestion at several points in the domestic departure area.
More than 4,000 passengers booked on domestic flights departing Kolkata use DigiYatra every day, officials said. The facility uses facial recognition technology to enable seamless, paperless and contactless movement of fliers through the terminal.
“In April, 13 per cent of the total domestic outbound passengers from Kolkata were using DigiYatra. In June, it has increased to 22 per cent,” said C. Pattabhi, director of the Kolkata airport.
“The earlier issues of registration and downloading the app have been resolved to a great extent.”
According to Pattabhi, around 22,000 passengers boarding domestic flights every day are eligible to use DigiYatra. The number was 18,000 in the middle of April, said officials.
From Kolkata, 25,000 passengers board domestic flights on an average daily.
“Now, more airlines are enabling their flights with the DigiYatra facility. Only AirAsia and Akasa Air are yet to enable their flights with the facility. Both airlines have said they would make the flights DigiYatra-enabled soon,” said Pattabhi. “Other airlines are sending messages to passengers, urging them to use the facility.”
Initially, only three gates — IA, 2B and 3A — had kiosks for DigiYatra check-in. Now, all six gates have the facility, said officials.
The airport director said Digi Buddies — staff helping passengers use DigiYatra — have been deployed at various points in the terminal, such as the entrance, security hold and the boarding gates.
“They are resolving issues, helping passengers with registration and also guiding them on how to use the system,” said Pattabhi.
“The queues at the entry have reduced a lot because of DigiYatra. We expect to decongest the airport further because DigiYatra is faster than the manual checking process,” an official said.
To use the facility, a one-time registration on the DigiYatra app is required using Aadhaar-based validation and self-image capture.
A passenger has to upload the boarding pass on the app and share it with the airport from where he or she will board the flight.
