Hyd airport becomes first to offer e-boarding facility

GMR group-run Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) today became the first airport in the country to offer e-boarding facility to domestic fliers. The seamless facility, inaugurated by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, covers all the boarding processes right from entry into the terminal building of the airport to boarding the aircraft, a release said today. Fliers, however, would have flexibility to follow the traditional process of showing a photo-ID to gain entry into the airport in case the Aadhaar number is not available. Developed in-house, the e-boarding Solution eliminates the need to manual stamping of boarding cards even for physical boarding cards issued by CUSS (Common Use Self Service) machines or the check-in counters, it said. Besides, the facility also covers end-to-end all the key passenger processes including entry to terminal, check-in, security check, boarding gate and boarding bridge check before entering the aircraft. With the implementation of E-boarding at RGIA, now a domestic passenger will need only a mobile e-boarding card and his Aadhaar Card number to gain entry into the airport, it said. Fliers, however, would have flexibility to follow the traditional process of showing a photo-ID to gain entry into the airport in case the Aadhaar number is not available. "We are happy to announce a comprehensive end-to-end E-boarding solution, first time at any Indian airport. After the successful pilot of the project and a go-ahead from Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), we have used our internal capabilities to commence E-boarding (facility) in shortest possible time," GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) Chief executive Officer SGK Kishore said. The in-house built e-boarding solution is in line with the 'Digital India' programme envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is a four-way joint venture with GMR Group holding 63 per cent stake, while Airports Authority of India and Telangana holding 13 per cent each. The rest 11 per cent stake is held by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.