Authored by: Pradeep Kushwaha-Head of Public Safety Business Unit, NEC Technologies India
‘Flying for all’ sounds very relevant in the 21st century of connectivity and minimal miles. Travel on account of employment and tourism are the foremost parameters which fuels the economic growth in the aviation sector.
At present, India is the 3rd largest domestic civil aviation market in the world and is soon to become the 3rd largest overall civil aviation market by 2022.
As per the vision 2040 document unveiled by the Ministry of Civil Aviation this year, the total passenger traffic to, from and within India, during Apr-Nov 2018 grew by around 15% year on year as compared to around 6% globally. India is now the seventh largest aviation market with 187 million passengers (to, from and within India) in FY 2017-18.
The initiative UDAN launched by PM Modi implies his vision: ‘Ude Desh Ka Har Nagrik’ which ensures comfortable and convenient air travel for the common folk (the ones even in slippers). In addition to this, the implementation of regional connectivity in India’s aviation circuit is also in line with this vision to expand to smaller cities under the flagship of government’s affordable UDAN scheme.
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This initiative by the government of India not only promotes paperless and smooth air travel but also eliminates ‘boarding pass stamping’ for all domestic airlines operating out of the terminals. All the 7 airport operators, including state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI), have also come together to form a JV to roll out government’s ambitious DigiYatra scheme at major airports like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Apart from the Digi Yatra project, initiatives like Nabh Nirman for airport capacity augmentation and AirSewa, aimed at online passenger grievance redressal etc. are also catching pace to bring about radical changes in the aviation sector.
As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the airports will have biometric-based verification which will use a Digi Yatra (DY) ID number using the aviation ministry’s portal. Similarly, NEC has also been working towards implementing their flagship FRS solution for the ‘One ID’ check-in to
This new process will enable passengers to register facial images during initial procedures, such as check-in, and if the images match within a database of passport photos, they can advance through procedures that include baggage drop-off, passenger security screening entrance and boarding without presenting boarding passes and passports that are conventionally required.
The information captured through the biometrics can be used as a registered token. For future travels, this token can also be tied to a trusted National Digital ID making it more secure.
‘One ID’ is a solution to facilitate a seamless, efficient and secure experience at the airport right from the entry and exit of the airport. Following are some advantages:
Smoother transits for busy airports, as passengers choose self-service and frictionless travel through One ID. This ensures better management of assets and resources along with saving infrastructure costs.
Reduced fraud and criminal activity, with a robust face recognition and document verification system. With One ID in place, officers can focus on passengers who require additional checks, instead of performing random inspections on travellers.
Improved experience for passengers, who can be identified early and provided with personalized service. Especially for VIP customers, the ability to understand their preferences better will lead to customer loyalty.
To summarize, the one ID is synonym to ‘Seamless, Secure and Efficient’ digitized travel system for a hassle free travel.