Indian flyers will soon be able to leave their identification cards and boarding passes at home after the government announced plans to introduce facial recognition technology at select airports from February 2019.

The service, which is part of the government’s ‘Digi Yatra’ programme, will be free of cost. “Digi Yatra is a forward-looking, technology-driven, futuristic experience. It will eliminate multiple stamping of boarding passes and several scrutinies will be eliminated,” Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu told media.

As major airports battle with overcrowding due to a travel boom, New Delhi says the programme will enable existing airports to handle more passengers before additional infrastructure is in place.

“The passengers are expecting better facilitation at the airport and security remains a key concern in air travel. Leveraging technology is the only solution to meet such challenging requirements”, adds secretary of the ministry of civil aviation RN Choubey.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation will roll out Digi Yatra next year. The Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports will be the first ones to implement the system in February. The Kolkata, Pune, Vijaywada and Varanasi airports will follow suit in April.