Biometric-enabled Aadhaar card entry introduced at KIA

The entry into Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in the city has just got easier for passengers with Aadhaar cards.

The airport has launched biometric-enabled Aadhaar card entry as a pilot project for one airline. The process is a seamless, paper-less bi­o­­metric verification at all the checkpoints of the airp­o­rt. The passenger simply needs to wave his/her hand at all the process points to walk through.

Here’s how the process works: At the airport entry, the passenger comes pre-checked in with either the paper-printed boarding pass or e-mobile pass. At the Aadhaar boarding kiosk, he/she scans the boarding pass. If the Aadhaar is already entered at the time of booking, the passenger waves hand to complete the  authentication / registration process. If the number is not entered, it could be done manually before the hand is waved.

In case the Aadhaar card is not available, the passenger mentions that and waves his/her hand. The alternate identity card is then shown to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) staff.

The passenger then heads to the departure entry gate. The gate opens when the biometrics on the hand is presented. At the pre-embarkation security check area, the hand is waved again to enter the zone. For the statutory security check, the hand bags are screened before the passenger moves through the door frame metal detector to reach the frisking pedestal.

Here, the passenger waves hand and is recognised by his/her biometrics. Once the passenger is frisked, he/she heads to the designated boarding gate, where the hand is waved again. At the E-Gate, the passenger gets a paper stub with flight details and seat number. This is produced at the aircraft door.

Passengers of Jet Airways flight 9W 450 from Bengaluru to Mumbai can experience the biometric-enabled Aadhaar card entry. The process is part of KIA’s exercise to digitise and automate the entry procedure. The existing process of manual verification of identity is being seen as a security concern. Digitalisation could make it hassle-free even for the passengers, according to the airport officials.
DH News Service