Categories: Travel

Digi Yatra achieves major milestones in 2024, poised for international expansion in 2025, ET TravelWorld

Digi Yatra, the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)-based platform using face biometric technology for seamless passenger processing at airports, has reached significant milestones in 2024. Launched in December 2022, the platform has grown from operating at three airports to 24 across India, providing a seamless travel experience for passengers.

Digi Yatra has registered over 9 million active users, with an average of 30,000 app downloads daily. It has facilitated more than 42 million seamless journeys, showcasing the platform’s increasing acceptance among passengers. In 2024, Digi Yatra collaborated with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on the ‘IATA One-ID X Digi Yatra India’ initiative, marking a key step towards offering seamless end-to-end international travel experiences. This partnership is expected to set the stage for Digi Yatra’s international expansion.

To improve user experience, Digi Yatra has focused on enhancing its biometric technology and streamlining registration processes. The launch of the d-KYC (Don’t Know Your Customer) campaign in October emphasised the platform’s commitment to user privacy, ensuring that no personal data is stored or accessed. A wrap-up video contextualising this initiative is available in the latest version of the Digi Yatra app.

Five other airports – Pune, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad – will see Digi Yatra get operational by next March. The Airports Authority of India will identify other airports where this would be implemented in phases. Digi Yatra aims to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports, based on facial recognition technology (FRT).

Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO of Digi Yatra Foundation, said, “2024 was a defining year for Digi Yatra as it became a nationwide digital ecosystem reshaping how Indians experience air travel. We look forward to further growth in 2025, adding more airports and expanding internationally, all while maintaining our focus on user trust and data privacy.”Digi Yatra aims to make the platform multilingual by March 2025, supporting all 22 official languages in India. The company is also planning an international pilot project by June 2025 for foreign passengers holding electronic passports (e-passports), marking another step towards global integration.