After a two-year lull, airports in India are back to being busy again. With the government lifting flight bans and COVID restrictions, passenger footfall has dramatically increased over the last few weeks. Some of the busier airports in the country are reporting long queues and crowded premises, which in a post-COVID world can induce nervousness. But a parliamentary panel in India is mulling over a solution to reduce crowding.
Biometric screening
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture took notice of increasing crowds at Indian airports and submitted a report in parliament, suggesting the use of biometric technology for faster security clearance.
The committee noted that the current system of scanning passengers using Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMDs) and Hand Held Metal Detectors (HHMDs) is outdated, and other, less intrusive methods should be used. The report said,
“…the Committee recommends that in addition to steps taken to ease queues, the Ministry may also expedite its proposal for installation of Full Body Scanners at airports, which would enhance the technology of frisking of passengers and lead to faster clearance of queues at frisking points. Besides, the number of frisking counters may also be increased at airports and adequately trained personnel should be posted to man these counters effectively.”
The committee cited examples of airports abroad and the use of biometric screening using tools such as facial recognition, fingerprint, and retinal scans and urged the aviation ministry to apply these methods at Indian airports as well.
In the pipeline
Discussion around the use of biometrics in India isn’t new. In 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation carried out a pilot project at Hyderabad airport using biometric identification for allowing entry into the terminal.
Most Indians have been issued an ‘Adhaar Card’ – a unique identification number that stores a person’s fingerprints and iris scans, which is fed into a national digital registry. The government could use this data for biometric scanning at airports for faster clearances and to reduce congestion.
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The Indian government plans to implement facial recognition as part of its ‘DigiYatra’ initiative across some airports, including Pune, Kolkata, Varanasi, Vijayawada, Bangalore, Delhi, and Hyderabad, by March 2023. Preliminary testing of these systems at the concerned airports has already been completed.
Use of tech globally
The aviation sector is increasingly relying on biometric solutions. The technology has been around for some time, but it’s being implemented actively post-COVID.
Recently, Spirit Airlines announced that it has decided to introduce an automated self-bag drop and biometric photo-matching system for its customers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to streamline the process.
Airlines are also interested in using the technology during boarding. Simple Flying published a detailed report earlier this year about how airline biometric boarding deployment will rise by over 60% by 2024.
Smart airports are also on the rise, with Istanbul Airport leading the way. In 2020, it was awarded the "Digital Transformation Award" by Airports Council International (ACI) for offering its customers critical digital facilities, including e-passport gates, smart translation services, bespoke mobile apps, smart parking, smart security, and even robot assistants.
With the world using digital technology at this rate, it’s about time Indian airports embrace the change, too.