India’s facial recognition-based airport access system Digi Yatra is preparing to extend its biometric travel system to international departures, while also pursuing interoperability with the European Union’s equivalent framework that will allow travellers from India easy airport access overseas and expanding domestic access for foreign travellers.
Alongside the airport trials, Digi Yatra is working on interoperability with the European Union’s digital identity framework, known as EU Digital Identity that allows EU citizens, residents, and businesses to store and share verified digital identity data and official documents. Through their APTITUDE consortium, the platform aims to enable cross-border sharing of travel credentials within three to six months. The longer-term objective is for a passenger travelling from India to Europe to share verified credentials with both departure and destination airports. The effort is part of a broader self-sovereign identity push under the global airline body International Air Transport Association’s One ID initiative for contactless air travel.
On Digi Yatra’s plans to become a complete “travel stack”, which allows its use across hotels and train stations, Mr. Khadakbhavi said expanding beyond aviation would require regulatory clearances. “We are discussing with the authorities and trying to see.”
