Journalism of Courage
In a first, Pune airport is going to use Bar Code Boarding Pass (BCBP) e-Gates to make the entry into the airport easy and seamless, officials with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.
The facility will be started at Pune airport on a ‘trial run’ after the idea was approved by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for a period of 45 days.
“The BCAS has recently approved to start the trial run at Pune Airport, making it the first among all the airports managed by the AAI to use the facility. The trial run will start in the first week of March and will run for 45 days. After that, a report will be provided to BCAS before taking the final decision on using the facility on a permanent basis,” said Ajay Kumar, airport director, Pune.
The BCBP e-Gates makes the process of authenticating boarding passes of fliers faster, simpler and convenient. According to officials, the BCBP e-Gates validates the authenticity of the boarding pass, including confirmation that the boarding pass is for an active flight on the day of travel. “The BCBP e-Gates process, which takes less than five seconds, also improves passenger processing and is user friendly, based on passengers’ feedback, since the machines were inaugurated last week,” said an official.
Officials said in order to use the facility, passengers will have to first check-in online. After getting their boarding passes, passengers can then proceed to the BCBP e-Gates, where the barcode section of the boarding passes will be scanned. Once the boarding passes have been validated, the BCBP e-Gates will open and passengers will be allowed to proceed towards the departure section.
Officials said the system will also help the security personnel in getting hold of those who want to enter the airport with a fake ticket. Last year, a boy had entered the airport in Pune by producing a forged boarding pass to be with her girlfriend until she boarded her flight.
“Another advantage of these gates is that it will reduce the workload on Central Industrial Security Force personnel, who have to check the boarding passes of all passengers. There is a scanning device right next to each gate. Once a passenger scans the barcode on the boarding pass, the gates open automatically,” said an official.
