Seven airports begin Digi Yatra trials for select international flights

Digi Yatra trials for international passengers have begun at seven Indian airports. Indian nationals holding e-passports can use the facility on select Air India and IndiGo flights. Feedback gathered through December will guide a wider rollout planned for 2027

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry on Sunday said trials of Digi Yatra for international passengers have started at seven airports, with a wider rollout of the facility expected in 2027.

It will be available on a trial basis to Indian nationals holding e-passports on select international flights operated by Air India and IndiGo.

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Based on facial recognition technology, Digi Yatra enables contactless and seamless movement of passengers through various checkpoints at airports. It is currently available at several domestic airports.

In a release, the ministry said trials of Digi Yatra for international passengers are being conducted at seven airports — Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Mumbai, Chennai and Amritsar.

Feedback received during the trial period from November to December this year will be used to plan the wider rollout of the technology in 2027.

According to the ministry, the trials will allow eligible Indian nationals holding e-passports to use Digi Yatra at designated airport touchpoints while travelling on select international flights operated by Air India and IndiGo.

“Eligible passengers will be able to use the facility at terminal entry points, Security Hold Areas (SHA) and boarding gates, wherever the required infrastructure is available,” the release said.

The ministry said the facility is intended to complement, not replace, existing travel processes.

“Passengers must continue to carry their travel documents and complete all mandatory airline document checks, immigration procedures and other applicable travel formalities,” it added.

For international travel, eligible Indian nationals must create an e-passport-based Verifiable Credential (VC) through the Digi Yatra mobile application.

The process involves scanning the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) of the e-passport, reading the embedded chip using the Near Field Communication (NFC) feature of a compatible smartphone, capturing a selfie and verifying the details, the release said.

The credentials will be stored in the passenger’s Digi Yatra wallet on the device.

At present, the Digi Yatra platform has over 26.5 million users. It has enabled more than 110 million journeys across 39 domestic airports, and 25 more domestic airports are planned to be covered by 2027, the release said.