THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY 30, 2026
In a landmark achievement for India’s rapidly advancing digital public
infrastructure ecosystem, Digi Yatra has crossed the milestone of facilitating
over 10 crore seamless passenger journeys across 38 airports nationwide. With
more than 2.4 crore downloads on iOS and Android platforms, the
biometric-enabled travel platform has emerged as one of the most successful
digital innovations in global aviation, transforming the airport experience for
millions of passengers.
The achievement underscores the growing adoption of contactless,
paperless and efficient travel solutions in India’s aviation sector. By
replacing manual document verification processes, Digi Yatra has significantly
improved passenger convenience, reducing average airport entry processing time
from 15 seconds to just 5 seconds per traveler. The enhanced efficiency has
helped optimize terminal infrastructure, ease congestion and reduce manual
processing requirements at airports.
The initiative has also delivered notable environmental benefits by
eliminating the need for physical boarding passes, thereby saving thousands of
sheets of paper every day across participating airports and contributing to
sustainable aviation practices.
Reflecting on the milestone, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan
Naidu said, "I congratulate the Digi Yatra Team for the 10-crore usage
milestone, it reflects the growing trust passengers are placing in seamless,
paperless and contactless travel. The scale of Digi Yatra’s adoption comes at a
critical juncture. Daily domestic passenger traffic, which averaged below 2
lakh passengers in 2014, has now crossed the 5-lakh mark on numerous occasions
over the last three years. And supported by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s
vision to make air travel more accessible and convenient, annual passenger
traffic across Indian airports is projected to reach 50 crores by 2030 and
double to nearly 100 crores by 2040. And to effectively manage this exponential
growth, we are adopting multiple digital solutions like Digi Yatra,
Self-Baggage Drop Facility, Augmentation of Air Traffic Control Automation
Systems, AirSewa portal for grievance redressal and AI-powered digital twins to
optimize airport operations.”
Highlighting the next phase of expansion, the Minister added, "While
many nations continue to evaluate the large-scale deployment of biometric
passenger processing, India has successfully operationalized and scaled Digi
Yatra within a remarkably short timeframe. Right now, Digi Yatra is active at
38 airports, and by next year, 27 more airports will be enabled. I am also
pleased to share that the major greenfield airport projects operationalizing
this year; Navi Mumbai, Jewar and Bhogapuram will all be fully Digi
Yatra-enabled."
Emphasizing the government’s commitment to enhancing the Ease of Flying
experience, Naidu further said, "We are making the platform significantly
more inclusive. Digi Yatra currently supports 11 languages, and by the end of this
year, we plan to add 11 more regional languages. This directly advances the
Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to democratize aviation and make air travel
truly accessible to the common man."
A key pillar of Digi Yatra’s success has been its robust privacy and
security framework. Built on a privacy-by-design architecture, the platform
ensures that passenger data remains encrypted and securely stored on users’ own
devices. Data is shared only for a limited duration with the origin airport for
immediate verification, reinforcing trust and safeguarding user privacy.
As India prepares for unprecedented growth in air travel demand over the
coming decades, Digi Yatra is increasingly being viewed as a cornerstone of the
country’s aviation modernization strategy. The Ministry of Civil Aviation
reiterated its commitment to transforming Indian airports into global
benchmarks for seamless and technology-driven passenger experiences. Guided by
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s twin missions of Digital India and Aviation
for All, the government aims to make air travel faster, smarter and hassle-free
for every passenger while strengthening India’s position as a global leader in
digital aviation innovation.
