Boarding passes can be scrapped for flyers

After scrapping hand baggage tags at over a dozen airports in India, aviation security agencies now plan to dump the boarding pass collection system and start a “express check-in” system aided by biometrics to ensure smoother air travel.

CISF director-general O.P. Singh said in an interview to a news agency that the agencies had begun “exploring” the technology that is required to usher in the boarding card-less system of air travel at the 59 airports it guards at present and at the remaining facilities that will come under its umbrella as part of a “unified command” structure in the future.

“We are working on two projects. The first is how to introduce integrated security solutions at airports. You need to connect all dots that exist within the security establishment. You have so many strategies to do it... you have the biometrics, video analytics and a very robust access control system. We will try to interconnect all these things in a very integrated fashion,” said CISF directorgeneral O.P. Singh.

Mr Singh said that doing away with the boarding card system was a part of this project and an initiative launched at Hyderabad airport for the “express check-in” of passengers was an example of that.

“We may do away with boarding cards too. But that depends on how strong I become (about technology-based security systems). Hyderabad airport is the only airport in the country that is totally biometric,” he said.

The D-G said the launch of the new system at Hyderabad airport was for “every” stakeholder in airport security.