India’s First Paperless E-Boarding Facility Goes Live At Hyderabad Airport; Aadhaar Mandatory

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has become India’s first airport to offer fully paper-less e-boarding facility, which will make travelling seamless, without any requirement of human interface. This has been hailed as one of the most successful implementation of PM Modi’s Digital India initiative.

The concept of e-boarding was in pilot process between April-June, 2015 at Hyderabad airport, wherein 7000 international fliers availed this facility, and experienced a new way of check-in into the terminal. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, the company which operates Hyderabad’s airport, implemented this three-month e-boarding project, with the help of Jet Airways.

Commissioner of Security Civil Aviation (CoSCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) finally gave its approval to the process, after due security audits and checks.

SGK Kishore, CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd said, “Our E-boarding solution is in line with the ongoing ‘Digital India’ initiative envisioned by the Prime Minister. The seamless collaboration with cross functional teams and our stakeholders – Jet Airways and CISF – enabled us to move from concept stage to the implementation in the shortest possible time.”

Soon, e-boarding facility would be introduced at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore airports. However, domestic passengers will need to wait a little longer, as no timeline has been provided for them. International passengers would start using this facility immediately.

How Will It Work?

• 24 hours before the flight, the passenger will get an SMS informing about the option of e-boarding pass.
• In case the passenger selects this option, he will receive a Unique Mobile Pass and a QR Code on their registered mobile number
• On the day of journey, the passenger needs to visit the special e-boarding machine installed near the gates and scan the QR code.
• Once validated, he will need to enter his Aadhaar Card number, followed by a finger scan to validate his biometric credentials, which are linked with the Aadhaar Card
• Once verified, the passenger is able to get access to the terminal area, without any need for standing in queue or stamping his physical boarding pass.
• In case the passenger has any cabin baggage, he will need to drop in at security check; and in case of check-in baggage, he will drop them at the regular check-in counter.
• After that, the passenger will need to go through a special lane called E-gate which has been specially designed for e-boarding passes.

The mandatory involvement of the Aadhaar Card makes it more secured and safe, as the biometric credentials are verified before the check-in. However, in case the passenger does not have Aadhaar Card, and opted for e-boarding facility, then he will have to use the traditional paper-bound boarding procedure.

The best part is that, e-boarding facility is already recognized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global trade body for 250 airlines worldwide.