Passengers flying through Thiruvananthapuram International Airport can now clear immigration in under 30 seconds with the launch of a new e-gate facility.
The system, part of the Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) of the Bureau of Immigration under the Union Home Ministry, was virtually inaugurated on Thursday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. With this rollout, Kerala now has e-gates at all three of its international airports—Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.
Amit Shah said the facility is designed to make travel smoother while also introducing passengers to the country’s push for tech-driven services. He urged officials to expand access, including linking program registration to the issuance of passports and OCI cards so that travelers can sign up easily.
Alongside Thiruvananthapuram, the FTI-TTP service went live today at Kozhikode, Lucknow, Tiruchirappalli, and Amritsar airports. Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kochi already have the system in place.
Enrollment for the program is managed through a dedicated portal (https://ftittp.mha.gov.in). Travelers register online by submitting personal details and uploading documents. Biometrics are collected either at a Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or directly at the airport.
Here’s how it works: passengers scan their boarding pass and passport at the e-gate, which then verifies their biometrics. Once confirmed, the gate opens automatically, finishing the immigration check in half a minute.
Officials present at the Thiruvananthapuram launch included Aravind Menon IPS, FRRO; Rahul Bhatkoti, Chief Airport Officer; IG Shyam Sundar IPS; DIG Nishantini IPS, and other senior police officers.
The launch signals another step toward modernizing immigration procedures across India’s airports, aiming to save travelers time while keeping security tight.
