PUNE: Come 2019, just facial recognition would be enough to board flights at the city airport.The system would ensure seamless check-in and security check process, reducing the waiting time at the airport drastically. A source said the facial recognition system would be in place at four airports, including Pune, on a trial basis before its introduction at all the airports in the country. A part of the civil aviation ministry’s DigiYatra initiative, it is aimed at providing modern electronic and digital facilities to flyers.A source at the Pune airport told TOI that the facility had electronic gates and the work on installation of the required software was on. “The work on installation of cameras and other equipment is in progress,” he said.Once the facial recognition system is in place, passengers will have the option to go through a one-time registration process at the entrance of the airport terminal building. The details of the flyer concerned would be captured in high definition cameras, which will act as his/her unique signature or code.The next time the same passenger travels, s/he will have to only look at the cameras instead of showing boarding pass and his/her identity documents. The system will automatically verify the passenger, allowing him/her to pass through the gate seamlessly.The system will be similar during the security check. There will be no need of showing and stamping boarding pass after frisking.The boarding passes and flight details of the flyers registered in the facial recognition system would be integrated with the system. The authenticity of the boarding passes would be checked automatically.Another source said the trial run of the system was on at Hyderabad airport.The source at the airport said, “There have been instances, one even last week, of people entering the airport with fake tickets or boarding passes. The new system will prevent such attempts. Passengers who don’t want to opt for the system can go through the old procedures.”Terming the system unique, passengers stressed on its proper understanding. “Things like how to register needs to be clarified by the Airports Authority of India. I should be absolutely sure that it will not hamper my privacy in any way,” Jagdish Sonaware, a flyer, said.

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