CHENNAI: Air passengers can look forward to shorter wait time for immigration clearance as the much-awaited Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) is set to begin at the Chennai airport on Thursday.

To make travel experience smoother for passengers, the Indian government launched the FTI-TTP last June.

Chennai airport officials said the facility was to open at the Chennai airport from last August and even the counters were ready. But since the programme was not officially inaugurated by the AAI, it hadn’t started.

Passengers can register at www.ftittp.mha.gov.in for the FTI-TTP. The Bureau of Immigration will verify passenger details. Approved passengers will receive an email or SMS to proceed to the next step which is biometric enrolment at either the Foreigners Regional Registration Office or a dedicated counter to enrol biometric details.

Once the registration process is complete and boarding passes are issued, passengers can directly go to the dedicated counter for FTI-TTP where their face will be scanned. Once verified, the immigration process is completed.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will launch the programme for the seven airports -- Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin and Ahmedabad, from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. The home minister had launched the FTI-TTP in June 2024 from Terminal-3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

At the Chennai airport, international passengers often wait in long queues. sometimes more than two hours, for immigration clearance. The FTI-TTP programme is expected to shorten queues and wait time at the immigration counter.