India’s international flyers have just been handed a major travel upgrade. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday rolled out the Fast Track Immigration Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) at five more airports in Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Kozhikode and Amritsar.
India Expands Trusted Traveller Programme To 13 Airports
According to NDTV, with this fast track immigration system, the system is now active at 13 airports nationwide, including the busiest hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.
The programme, first launched in 2024, is built on a simple promise to cut the hassle out of immigration. Registered passengers no longer have to shuffle through long lines. Instead, they head straight to a dedicated e-gate, scan their passport and boarding pass, let the biometric scanner do its job, and if everything matches, the gate slides open. The entire process takes no more than 30 seconds.
And it’s catching on fast. According to officials, about three lakh travellers have already signed up for fast track immigration, with 2.65 lakh using the service during their journeys.
Amit Shah, calling the fast track immigration programme a key piece of India’s next-generation travel infrastructure, said it embodies Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of “Speed, Scale and Scope.” He also hinted at what’s next: tying enrolment directly to passports and OCI cards, so that travellers don’t have to fill out additional forms or go through separate steps.
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30-Second Fast Track Immigration Clearance
The timing couldn’t be more relevant. Over the past decade, international travel has surged. In 2014, 3.54 crore Indians flew abroad; by 2024, that number had climbed to 6.12 crore. Foreign arrivals also rose from 1.53 crore to nearly 2 crore. In total, international passenger traffic grew by 60 per cent in ten years, putting tremendous pressure on airport counters that were never designed for such volumes.
To ease that strain, FTI-TTP is already live at major airports, and the system is slated to be in place at Navi Mumbai and Jewar airports once they open for operations.
Enrolment for fast track immigration is smooth and easy. Passengers can register at ftittp.mha.gov.in. Biometric verification is done either at select airports or through Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs). After that, travellers get permanent access to the e-gates, freeing them from manual counters for good, as stated by NDTV.
Officials stress that fast track immigration is not just about convenience, it’s also about tightening security. Every traveller’s identity is verified biometrically, making the process faster for genuine passengers while keeping border checks robust.
Here is a full list of airports offering fast-tracked immigration:
- Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai
- Chennai International Airport
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata
- Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru
- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad
- Cochin International Airport, Kochi
- Ahmedabad Airport
- Lucknow International Airport
- Thiruvananthapuram International Airport
- Trichy (Tiruchirappalli) International Airport
- Kozhikode (Calicut) International Airport
- Amritsar International Airport
As India’s skies grow busier, the fast track immigration is being pitched as more than just a time-saver. It’s a long-term investment in smarter border control, designed to keep pace with a country where millions more will be flying abroad every year.
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