Chennai International Airport will extend Digi Yatra services to international passengers from January 2027, following a trial involving IndiGo passengers travelling to Dubai and Colombo. Airport authorities began the trial on November 1, and it is scheduled to continue until December.

Digi Yatra has been operating at the airport’s domestic terminal for the past two years. The system is intended to speed up passenger processing and reduce delays by enabling travellers to use a digital identity instead of repeatedly presenting paper documents at designated checkpoints.

The trial will gradually be expanded to passengers travelling to other international destinations. Airport authorities decided to introduce the service at the international terminal after domestic passengers benefited from faster clearance and international travellers requested a similar facility.

Passengers using the system will need a separate mobile application to scan their e-passports. Information stored on the passport chip will be verified electronically, after which the passenger’s digital identity will be saved in the Digi Yatra wallet on an Android phone. Staff will be deployed to help travellers use the application and complete the registration process.

Other mandatory documents will continue to be checked through the existing procedure, and immigration requirements will remain unchanged. Chennai airport has operated the Fast Track Immigration-Traveller Trusted Programme since August 2024, allowing eligible passengers to complete immigration formalities more quickly.

Digi Yatra uses facial recognition to enable access through automatic gates. Passengers present their faces to the system, which displays their identity and indicates approval before opening the gates. Central Industrial Security Force personnel will remain nearby to monitor the process, but will not conduct the passenger checks. The service is already available at domestic airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Pune and Vijayawada.