Digi Yatra App User Base Crosses One Million Mark In Just 6 Months' Time

The number of passengers who have installed the 'Digi Yatra' application on their mobile phones has crossed one million this week while 1.75 million people have used the facility since its inception in December last year. Nearly 84 per cent of the downloads were done on Android-based mobile phones while the rest were on iOS-based cell phones.

The app was inaugurated by Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Dec 1, 2022. It was initially launched at three airports -- New Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi, which was followed by Vijayawada, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune in April this year, according to an offical release from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Varanasi and Vijaywada airports had the highest usage with over half the passengers using it. Varanasi airport alone saw the highest percentage of passengers at 76% of its total passengers in the past week availing the app. Vijaywada airport saw the figure stand at 62% whereas it was only 19% in Delhi -- the biggest airport in the country, and 14% in Bengaluru.

Though Delhi and Bengaluru airports recorded a comparatively lower percentage, the number of flyers in these metro airports are higher. In Delhi airport, a total of 6.48 lakh passengers used the app in the past six months and the number was 5 lakh in Bengaluru. Compared to this, 2.25 lakh flyers availed the app at Varanasi airport while it was only 47,000 in Vijaywada.

New Delhi International Airport launched an initiative earlier this month to enable those without smartphones to avail Digi Yatra's benefits. As part of the initiative, passengers can register at the airport's T3 terminal. This includes scanning of the passenger boarding card and face.

Digi Yatra is an initiative of the Ministry for a biometric boarding system using facial biometric verification technology. The main objective of the app is to enhance the passenger experience by eliminating the need for manual verification of tickets and ID at multiple touchpoints and to achieve better throughput through existing infrastructure using a Digital Framework, the release added.

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated many inventions and innovation, including requirement of a contactless air travel solution. DigiYatra Foundation and the Ministry came up with the app to provide that solution, aming at creating a digitally empowered society.

Digi Yatra is an industry-led initiative that uses facial recognition technology to make terminal entry and security clearance at the airport a seamless, hassle-free and paperless process. It is a decentralised mobile-based ID storage platform where air travellers can save their IDs and travel documents.

Touted as the future of air travel, DigiYatra enables the automatic digital processing of flyers with the benefit of reduced wait time and makes the boarding process faster and more seamless. The app is built on four pillars, namely connected passengers, connected flying, connected airports and connected systems, ensuring easy entry at all checkpoints.