Delhi airport will roll out a three-month trial to demonstrate a Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel Experience (BEST) from Friday.
The trial will be based on Facial Recognition Technology. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) will launch the trial with Vistara at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. With this Delhi, the busiest airport in the country, will the growing number of airports including Hyderabad where such a facility has been tried on a trial basis.
With the start of the trial at T3, passengers’ entry will be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all check points including airport entry, entry for security checks and boarding the aircraft.
The enrolment process for passengers with valid flight tickets and government ID proofs will start at the registration kiosk after which their facial details will be captured by a camera. At the same time the documents provided by the passengers will be validated by CISF personnel at the kiosk. He will physically check the applicant’s ID proof and confirm this on the system.
After this the passenger can approach the dedicated departure e-gate, which too is fitted with facial recognition cameras. The e-gates will open automatically after the facial recognition process is complete. The passenger can then proceed towards the check-in counters to drop her bags. If she is not carrying any bags, she can head straight for the security screening, where too facial recognition cameras are installed.
Once the passenger clears the security screening she can board the flight through the dedicated boarding e-gates. These gates too will open automatically after the camera recognises 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.
In a statement, the airport said that the solution is compliant with the guidelines of Privacy-by-Design, an internationally recognised standard for privacy.