Fast-track immigration clearance facility gains momentum at Chennai airport

Seven months after the launch of the fast-track immigration programme, the facility is gaining momentum at Chennai airport. Everyday, nearly 160 air passengers now get past immigration process quickly via exclusive gates without having to wait in serpentine queues at Chennai airport. 

In January this year, Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller’s Programme (FTI-TTP) was implemented at the city airport. Following this, air passengers gradually began registering themselves for this programme.

The FTI-TTP was launched to enable speedy completion of the immigration check for passengers at the airport. 

How does it work?

Indian nationals or foreign nationals with OCI Card (Overseas Citizen Of India) can apply to be part of FTI-TTP. First, they must register in the portal (https://ftittp.mha.gov.in) and then provide their fingerprint and facial image to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office. After verification, the information of the passenger will be uploaded in the system. On the day of travel, the passenger should scan their boarding pass, passport and their fingerprint at the e-gate to pass through the immigration. 

There are four e-gates each in the departure and four at the arrival hall for these passengers. Also, for people who want to register at the airport, there is one help desk each at the departure, arrival and security hold area respectively. 

Once enrolled in the programme, passengers can utilise it for five years or till the expiry of passport. 

From about 10 persons using this facility every day at Chennai airport in January, today, about 160 passengers opt for it and travel seamlessly without having to wait in queues. 

Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said, this programme is slowly gaining pace at the airport. 

“We encourage passengers to register for this programme. It works similar to DigiYatra wherein these passengers will have separate queues and faster clearance. It will help in streamlining the congestion that occurs during the immigration process. Sometimes, in the early hours of the day, between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., bunching of flights may happen wherein multiple international flights can land one after the other. At this time, immigration queues could become long and passengers’ waiting time could be high. So, they can avoid standing in the queue if they enrol for this programme,” an official said.

Airports including New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru are equipped with these gates. Sources said, they expect the registrations to go up soon when a lot more airports in the country begin to have this facility.

Tiruchi airport to get the facility

Next, FTI-TTP facility will be available in Tiruchi airport as well and the installation of the e-gates are underway now.