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Bengaluru to be first Aadhaar-enabled airport in the country by Dec 2018

BENGALURU: After a two-month pilot project in February, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has given push to its plan to make Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) the country’s first airport to have complete Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric boarding system+ .

According to the Request For Proposal (RFP) issued by BIAL, the airport is expected to be completely Aadhaar-enabled by December 2018, and the initiative is in line with its endeavours to become a Smart Airport—a digitized, seamlessly connected and intuitive one.

BIAL wants to tap benefits of using Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding process to confirm personal identity for airport passenger processing and access control among other things. The process enables a passenger to be verified in under five seconds at every checkpoint right up to the boarding gate, completing the screening process in 10 minutes compared to the average 25 minutes. This helps more passengers enter through the same gate.

"With real-time authentication of passengers, entry using biometric readers can enhance security, speed up clearance and alleviate delays at the airport. In addition to eliminating the need for passengers to present their ID and boarding passes at multiple stages of the airport journey, passengers can expect passage through various touch-points to be smooth and stress free," a spokesperson said.

BIAL executive director and president Hari Marar said the new move will speed up the validation process and provide a significant increase in security. The use of biometrics will soon be the only verification required at each passenger touch-point and will go a long way in improving the flow of passengers, providing a better travel experience as well as greater operational visibility for stakeholders, he added.

"A key driver to creating an airport-of-the-future is to embrace technologies that simplify, streamline and enhance travel processes. And as we continue to see exponential growth in passenger traffic, there’s an urgency to implement systems that allow quicker transit time, ensuring the smooth ingress and egress of passengers, " Marar said.

According to the RFP, issued on October 3, BIAL has set a 325-day deadline to implement the new system. By March 30, 2018, the project will go live as far as airport entry is concerned, and in another 90 days, under phase-2, all domestic airlines will be roped to make phase-2 live.

By October 4, 2018, even those boarding international airline flights will be able to access the new system and by December 31, 2018, the project will be complete.