Hyderabad: RGIA has become one of the first airports in India to introduce contactless e-boarding for passengers flying out of the country. Hyderabad International airport now has contactless e-boarding facilities not just for domestic passengers but also for international flyers. The first such fully e-boarded flight which took off from Hyderabad International Airport was the Sharjah bound 6E-1405 flight on 2nd October where all passengers e-boarded themselves.

Even though routine international flight services are suspended in line with government directions, a limited number of flights including Vande Bharat mission, chartered flights and flights under the air bubble arrangement are operational. Presently the e-boarding facility is enabled in Air India and IndiGo flights. With this, it has become the airport is using an indigenously developed digital solution, which recently got the nod from the government. IndiGo Airlines has fully integrated into this system and other airline carriers departing from the airport are in the process of coming on board.

As per this, passengers can travel virtually paperless and avoid all queues and waiting time by following five simple steps at the airport. The first is displaying the digital/printed boarding card at the e-boarding scanner, which the CISF validates and allows entry. The next step involved would be at the check-in gate where the agent scans the boarding card and passengers can drop the luggage at the counter, followed by immigration services. In the fourth step, at the Security Screening Zone, the hand baggage can be placed on the Automatic Tray Retrieval System (ATRS), while passenger can move for security check. The final step would be at the boarding gate, where one can scan the boarding card on the e-boarding scanner and move towards the gates to board the aircraft.

Speaking to the media person, Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GHIAL, said, “After about five years of successfully operating e-boarding for domestic flights, we have launched the e-boarding solution for international operations as well — another first for any Indian airport. In the present scenario of the pandemic, automating the passenger journey provides a more pleasant airport experience. After the successful pilot of the project and all regulatory approvals, we have used our internal capabilities to take up e-boarding for international operations”.