Aviation

Digi Yatra – All you need to know for easy travel

In a significant stride toward modernizing air travel, the Indian Government introduced the DigiYatra service, revolutionizing entry procedures at airports. Launched to facilitate paperless and contactless entry, this innovative service allows passengers to embark on their journeys without the need for a physical boarding pass.

DigiYatra leverages a sophisticated Facial Recognition System (FRS) to verify passengers’ identities, seamlessly linked to their boarding passes. The primary objective is to craft a delightful and memorable digital travel experience, offering a fully biometric-based self-boarding solution for a smooth flow from registration to boarding.

DigiYatra follows strict guidelines regarding privacy. Biometric information is not used for recognition during the boarding process; it is only used for authentication and verification. Furthermore, after the flight has been completed, all passenger data is promptly erased.

Benefits of DigiYatra:

Faster movement from airport entry to boarding gate
Seamless and paperless travel experience
Exclusively assigned gates for faster boarding

DigiYatra App Registration

To register yourself on the app, follow these steps:

Open the Play Store and type in Agra. Click here to download the app.
Open the app and there you have to enter some details to register.
There you have to take a selfie along with your Aadhar Card details, OTP will be sent to your mobile and then confirmed.
You will be successfully registered.
After that, you can log in to the app with your mobile number and password. which you have kept.

Digi Yatra Enabled Airports and Airlines:

Airports:

Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi
Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru

By March 2023, the DigiYatra app is set to expand to four more cities: Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada, with subsequent plans for widespread implementation.

At present, DigiYatra is being actively participated in by Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo. A wider integration across the aviation landscape is being signaled by the upcoming addition of GoFirst, Spicejet, and Akasa Air to this technological gateway.

Steps to follow at the airport:

Departure entry gate:

Make your way to the DigiYatra e-Gate and scan your boarding pass.
Face the biometric scanner to complete the verification process.
Upon verification, the e-Gate will open to allow you entry to the terminal.

Pre-Security check:

Make your way to the DigiYatra e-Gate before the security check.
Face the biometric scanner to complete the verification process.
Upon verification, the e-Gate will open to allow you to proceed to the boarding area.

Boarding gate:

Once boarding commences, please proceed towards the boarding gate.
Face the biometric scanner to complete the verification process.
Upon verification, proceed towards the aircraft.

Aviation

COMAC Unveils Plans for the C929 to Rival Airbus and Boeing

After the success of China’s first C919 aircraft, the country is setting its sights on developing a larger plane. COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has officially confirmed plans to build a widebody aircraft, marking a significant step in its aircraft lineup.

Traditionally, Airbus and Boeing dominate the widebody aircraft market, with decades of expertise in developing planes and engines capable of carrying heavy payloads. China, which currently relies on imported engines, is now aiming to challenge these giants with its own widebody jet, the C929, designed to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.

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The C929 will be China’s first independently developed long-range widebody aircraft. It adheres to international airworthiness standards and boasts independent intellectual property rights. The baseline version is designed to seat 280 passengers and offers a range of 12,000 kilometers, catering to global demand for both regional and international air travel.

Russia, which also needs reliable narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could become a key customer for the C929. Additionally, China plans to target the broader Asian market as it continues to expand its aviation capabilities.

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China’s aviation progress includes the ARJ21 (now called C909), a regional jet with 100 seats for shorter routes, and the C919, a narrowbody jet with 180 seats designed to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320. Both models have found increasing demand in the domestic market.

At China’s largest air show in Zhuhai, COMAC announced that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929 widebody jet, though details about order size and delivery timelines were not disclosed.

Other major deals announced by COMAC include:

Hainan Airlines: Firm orders for 60 C919 and 40 C909 regional jets.
Colorful Guizhou Airlines: 30 C909 jets, with 20 firm orders and 10 provisional agreements.

The C929, renamed from the CR929 after Russia withdrew from the joint development project in 2023, is expected to carry 280–400 passengers with a range of 12,000 kilometers, competing directly with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

According to COMAC’s deputy general manager, Tong Yu, the first fuselage section of the C929 is expected by September 2027, with prototype test flights anticipated soon after.