Take off to a smart way

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is all set to become the first Aadhaar-enabled airport in the country.

With December 2018 as the deadline, KIA will soon have a biometric boarding system for hassle-free access at all checkpoints.

This initiative is aimed at making the verification process shorter and simpler. It will help cut down the average time taken for the screening process from 25 minutes to 10 minutes, which will eventually enable every passenger to get verified in five seconds at every checkpoint in the airport. 

The new endeavour of KIA moving towards becoming a smart airport have evoked positive reactions from Bengalureans.

Ashrith Shetty, a civil engineer from Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, says, “If this plan comes into action, passengers can utilise the extra time doing something useful than standing in long queues. If everything goes as planned, this is definitely going to be a great move.”

He beams with pride at the fact that the city’s airport is focussing on going fully digital.

He adds, “Given the traffic, people already go through a lot of stress to reach the airport on time and then one has to go through a long process. However, with this initiative, they only have to think of reaching the airport on time. Having an Aadhaar card is going to help us in a lot of ways.”

The highlight of this initiative is not just limited to shorter verification time but also aims for better and stricter security checks.

Throwing light on this aspect, Ravi Chandran, an area sales manager for a mobile company says, “This step of making the airport Aadhaar-enabled can help stop people with fake ID proofs. This change is needed for the betterment of the society. People now need to understand the importance of having an Aadhaar
card.”

Riffath Kazi, a research scholar at National Institute of Advanced Studies says, “This strategy of providing a smooth, paperless experience to passengers is definitely going to be a good start.”

“Considering that millions of passengers are travelling every day, making everything digitised is the best way to tackle the human traffic at the airport and have a hassle-free travel. Though it might take time for people to get used to it, it will definitely be a reform in the long run.