Hyderabad airport becomes first in India to use Face Recognition technology

Hyderabad: GMR Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad has become the first in the country to successfully introduce Face Recognition (FR) technology enabling passengers to breeze through the express entrance into the terminal.

During the first phase of enrolment 4,000 frequent flyers have registered for the facility. The month-long trial run concluded on August 1 and the second phase will be taken up after the nod from the Civil Aviation ministry, the airport officials said.

Celebrities, film actors and other frequent flyers were among the people who voluntarily registered for the FR technology. This included verification on the basis of any government mandated ID proof and capturing of the photo of the passenger by special camera installed at the airport.

Film stars Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Samantha and film director Vijay Devarakonda were among the registered flyers under the program.

Now the registered passengers can simply walk into the airport through special entry point without facing the hassle of showing a photo ID card as the airport camera will identify them and flash a green light.

The Central Industrial Security Force personnel at the airport have been trained about the new technology.

The federal government introduced FR technology under the “DigiYatra” (Digital Travel) program.

Earlier a similar program was conducted at the Bengaluru airport but it was limited only to passengers without a check-in baggage.