Bengaluru opens Digi Yatra to international departures in 90-day SITA trial

The 90-day trial began on 1 November 2026 and uses SITA technology. It covers Indian citizens with machine-readable e-passports on Air India or IndiGo international flights. Bengaluru is the first Indian airport to test face-based checks on overseas flights. The pilot leaves immigration counters untouched.

Checks run at terminal entry, central security and the departure gate. A passenger confirms identity once, and the credential carries through the process. Digi Yatra already serves more than 26.5 million domestic users, the base the international trial extends from. Passengers must still show physical passports and visas at Bureau of Immigration counters and CISF checkpoints. George Fanthome, chief technical officer at Bangalore International Airport Limited, attributed the launch to a collaboration involving government authorities, Digi Yatra, SITA, IndiGo and Air India.

What a face scan does not replace

For travellers, the trial changes the airport process, not the legal one. Airport authorities say Digi Yatra does not bypass statutory requirements, and immigration and emigration procedures remain separate. IATA's One ID certification covers defined operational scopes and does not let an airline or airport override another country's border rules. A successful identity match cannot replace a visa, entry permission or a government's immigration assessment.

75% want one biometric record for every airport and every trip.

Current programmes remain split among airlines, airport operators and national authorities. Concerns persist: 59% named data breaches as their main worry about biometrics, and 49% worried about information being shared with other organisations. A further 41% said they were unsure how their personal data is used. Storage questions linger too, with 24% not knowing how long their data would be kept and 20% unsure how to have it deleted.

IATA's survey finds biometrics past the halfway mark

58% of passengers used biometric identification at an airport in the past 12 months, IATA's 2026 Global Passenger Survey found. That is up from 50% in 2025 and 34% in 2022. The survey drew more than 10,000 respondents across more than 200 countries. It was published on 28 October. Satisfaction among those who used biometrics reached 87%, against 86% a year earlier. 78% said they would share biometric data to skip passport and boarding pass checks. Biometrics were most commonly used at security screening, where adoption rose from 44% to 48%, and at check-in, up from 29% to 35%.

84% were interested in a digital passport for online check-in. They would use it instead of a physical document.

The barrier is the visa, not the gate

43% of international travellers avoided a destination in the past 12 months because of complex entry rules, up from 33% in 2025. Among those deterred, 53% cited process complexity. Cost and privacy were each named by 17%.

45% would prefer to complete immigration procedures before reaching the airport. That is up from 41%. 86% were likely to share immigration information digitally before departure, up from 83% in 2025.

First certifications, and a 2030 horizon

On 28 October Hong Kong International Airport and Air New Zealand became the first organisations certified under IATA's One ID programme. Hong Kong's operator says more than 93 million passengers have used its Flight Token system since 2021. More than 80% of departing passengers are eligible. They can use Flight Token at key checkpoints.

Nick Careen, IATA's senior vice president for operations, safety and security, said the industry has demonstrated that digital travel credentials work. "But we do need the governments to change their regulations to allow for it," he said. He put meaningful use of digital travel credentials between now and 2030.