No hand baggage tags at 7 airports

New Delhi: Flyers at seven airports will no longer have to get security stamp on their hand baggage with authorities scrapping the system on Thursday. The airports include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Cochin.

Flyers from seven airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, will no longer have to get security stamp on their hand baggage with authorities scrapping the system following successful trial runs. In a circular on Thursday, civil aviation security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) said the system of putting security stamp on hand baggage tags would be immediately done away with at seven airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Cochin. “The present system of stamping of hand baggage tag at Pre-embarkation Security Check (PESC) points for these seven airports shall be dispensed with from immediate effect,” the BCAS said in the circular. Experts say this is a step towards eventual biometric identification in the future of passengers at airports across the country.

“Airport operator shall ensure that the requisite monitoring system is maintained all through at PESC points,” the BCAS said.

Last year, the authorities had started trial runs with respect to doing away with security stamp on hand baggage tags at these seven airports.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security said it is pertinent to mention that the trial run for the same has already been successfully conducted in two phases after putting in place the requisite surveillance and monitoring system.

“The feedback from the trial run has been analysed and a positive response has been recorded,” it added.