Pioneering Hyderabad introduces e-boarding for international flights

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has become the first airport in India to introduce e-gates for passengers boarding international flights.

The gateway was the first to introduce paper e-boarding on domestic flights, and began trialling its new digital solution for international services – developed in-house by operator GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), this month.

GHIAL calls the move “a significant milestone in the history of Indian aviation”, noting that it is in line with the Indian government’s ‘Digital India’ campaign.

The new e-boarding service for international services is currently only available for select international flights of IndiGo Airlines, and if as expected it proves a success, will become an option for other airlines in the near future.

As a key partner to this initiative, IndiGo Airlines became the maiden carrier to commence this facility when their Sharjah-bound passengers used it to e-board a flight to the UAE on October 2.
Other scheduled international carriers operating out of Hyderabad are in the process of integration with the airport’s e-boarding system, which will be rolled out soon.

GHIAL CEO, Pradeep Panicker, enthuses: “Leveraging tech-enabled solutions to continuously elevate the passenger experience is one of our key focus areas.

“In Iine with this, we are delighted to announce that 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 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 solution for international operations.”

He adds: “Implementation of successful E-boarding at RGIA is the outcome of the collaboration with cross functional teams and all stakeholders, including our key partner IndiGo. We are confident that very soon we will get all our international carriers operating out of Hyderabad onto our e-boarding platform.”

As a result of the pandemic, today all international departures passengers at the airport are being processed at the Interim International Departures Terminal (IIDT).

The Indian gateway notes that a number of special screening and safety measures are in place to protect against passengers and staff against COVID-19. These includes thermal screening prior to entering the terminal and mandatory social distancing at all passenger processing points.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport recently earned Airport Health Accreditation in ACI’s new health and safety programme.