One of the busiest airports in India, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), has been taking significant steps to make travel more seamless for passengers with various digital initiatives. Instead of relying only on traditional counters and paperwork, CSMIA has adopted smart systems like biometric boarding, self-check-in kiosks, and baggage drop machines. Read on to know how these changes and how it is benefiting travellers.
Mumbai Airport Witnesses Digital Transformation
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, known for operating a large number of international flights, is experiencing a major digital transformation. As part of this technology-driven approach, the airport has introduced self-check-in kiosks that lets a passenger print boarding passes, generate baggage tags, check in, and even change seat preferences without waiting in long queues. Between 2024 and 2025, over 3.86 million boarding passes were printed using these kiosks.
As per the data shared by airport authorities, IndiGo passengers printed the most number of boarding passes, 2.58 million. Further, 1.09 million Air India passengers and 53,301 Air India Express passengers also used this digital method to make travel easier. In August 2025 alone, passengers printed 2.64 lakh boarding passes on these kiosks, showing a 41.84% rise as compared to 2024.
Self-Baggage Drop Machines A Major Hit Among Passengers
Another digital transformation at the airport is the introduction of 32 self-baggage drop counters. From April 2024 to August 2025, over 7.15 lakhs bags were checked in via self-baggage drop machines at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Each bag took only 17–20 seconds to process, making the check-in much faster. Out of this, domestic airlines handled about 6 lakh bags, while international airlines like KLM, Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa, and Swiss Airways handled over 70,000 bags.
The use of these machines is steadily increasing for international flights. It witnessed a growth of 4.15% in April 2024 to 13.9% in April 2025. For domestic flights, the usage of this machine surged from 5.26% to 6.28% in the same period.
CSMIA has also expanded the DigiYatra service. For a quicker journey, it now uses facial recognition. With 46 DigiYatra-enabled e-gates and 40 face pods, the system allows passengers to clear each checkpoint in just 2–3 seconds. That’s not all, the airport has also introduced cleaning robots and plans to add smart washrooms and more AI-based solutions in the future.
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Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons