The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here has become the first in India to successfully implement as a pilot project an end-to-end e-boarding process.
The civil aviation ministry selected the RGIA to pilot this project for a three-month duration from April.
The RGIA in collaboration with Jet Airways implemented this process. So far, more than 7,000 passengers have used this service, said a statement by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
The unique passenger workflow designed for the e-boarding pilot not only provides an enhanced passenger experience but also ensures a high level of security.
"E-boarding reduces human interface and takes a big leap towards automation, easing the movement of passengers through the airport and reducing the waiting time at various check points within the airport. This enhances our passenger's experience and improves the overall operational efficiency of our airport," said GHIAL CEO S.G.K. Kishore.
A passenger who is interested in availing of the e-boarding facility does a web check-in and receives a Unique Mobile Pass and a QR Code on his/her mobile phone.
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On the day of travel, the passenger arrives at the terminal and uses a special e-boarding machine available at the entry gate of the departure area.
The passenger scans the QR Code in the machine and enters the Aadhaar card number followed by validating their biometric credentials by doing a fingerprint scan on the system.
After electronic verification, the passenger gets inside the terminal. The passenger proceeds to a dedicated security check lane called e-gate.
He scans the mobile pass/e-boarding pass at the e-gate and proceeds for formal security check by the CISF.
This process further saves time, as in the absence of regular boarding pass and bag tags, stamping is not required on any document. Once the security check is cleared, the passenger can explore the retail opportunities at the airport.
At the time of boarding, the passenger gets the e-boarding pass scanned for the last time and boards the flight. This last scan verifies that the passenger has successfully cleared the security check process and baggage screening.
Taking cue from the Hyderabad airport's successful implementation of the pilot project, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi airports have also initiated e-boarding pilot using scanners and e-gates.
Teams from Bengaluru and Delhi recently visited the Hyderabad airport to witness e-boarding process and are known to have adopted several technical and process related aspects in their e-boarding systems.