Regarding the development of standards for contactless biometric procedures at airports, IATA aims to follow India…

Digital Desk: Based on the official website, IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a trade group of around 300 airlines, including several Indian airlines, and its members represent roughly 83 percent of global air travel.

The agency wants to establish a contactless boarding procedure all across the world after India’s debut of DigiYatra served as inspiration. To create universal standards for biometric-based procedures at airports, it is also looking at similar procedures in other countries.

We are searching for a unified standard, and one of the parties we are learning from is India, according to Louise Cole, Head of Customer Experience and Facilitation at IATA. The Bangalore airport has been using One ID (for contactless biometric-enabled processes), she continued. The developments in India thrill me because they are consistent with the standards we have created and are creating. It is quite encouraging and thrilling.

Under the One ID program, airlines and IATA are working together to digitalize the airport passenger journey through contactless biometric-enabled procedures.

The official from IATA referenced India in answer to questions about privacy concerns over the use of biometrics at airports, claiming that the nation is home to one of the largest biometric databases with Aadhaar and that its populace is also accustomed to using biometrics. 

Additionally, since data is not stored, the facial recognition system won’t be utilised to monitor airline passengers.

An overview of DigiYatra

It should be mentioned that the Indian government introduced DigiYatra on December 1, enabling travellers to enter three airports—Delhi, Bangalore, and Varanasi—using facial identification technology.

In order to use the service, travellers must first register their information on the aforementioned app utilising Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture.