After Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s visit to the Delhi airport, the authorities have put in place an elaborate action plan to ease congestion at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). As per government sources, arrangements such as the deployment of marshals to manage vehicular movements at the entry points, the opening of two additional entry gates, installation of additional X-ray machines and other machines for baggage checks among others have been made. They also said that flights during peak hours will be reduced between 5 am to 9 am.
Scindia visited the Delhi airport and held discussions with all stakeholders on ways to address the congestion at the airport amid complaints from passengers about long queues and waiting hours in recent days, especially in Terminal 3 of the airport.
Over the past few days, passengers have been complaining about long waiting hours at the airport and some also shared pictures of the crowd at the airport on social media.
A look at the action plan by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) to address the complaints:
Entry:
- Traffic marshals have been posted at the departure forecourt to avoid vehicular congestion.
- There were 16 entry gates at Terminal 3 (14 for passengers and 2 for crew). Two more additional gates have been opened up. Total number of gates are now 18 (16 for passengers and 2 for crew).
- Awareness posters at the entry gate for passengers to be ready with boarding cards beforehand to save time during check.
- Dedicated resources deployed at the entry gate to usher passengers.
- Digital display boards showing wait time at each entry gate and one least wait time board at the terminal checkpoint. A command center will monitor crowding at the gates real-time.
- Crowd managers and usherers will guide travelers.
- Airlines to be notified of the crowd numbers so that check-in points can be made congestion-free.
- Real-time updates on wait time will be posted on social media.
Security:
- Additional X-ray machine has been installed in T3 Domestic.
- Additional manpower deployed in the Automatic Tray Retrieval System (ATRS) area to help passengers for tray preparation and congestion management.
- Awareness posters/mobile announcements being undertaken to inform passengers about do’s and don’ts.
- Additional ATRS machines for baggage check will be deployed. It was 13 in pre-Covid times.
- ATRS machines installed on the ground (11 for passengers and 2 for crew and specially-abled). This number has been increased to 16 (10 ATRS and 6 conventional X-ray machines ) in the last few days. This will be increased further to 17 soon, and subsequently to 20.
Immigration:
- Incoming international passengers are being encouraged to complete the Immigration Paper Landing Cards while onboard.
- Manpower has been deployed at the disembarkation point to facilitate passengers who have not filled the papers onboard for speedy completion before they reach the immigration counter.
- An analysis of the manpower requirements at immigration counters will be undertaken immediately, and if need be, additional manpower will be deployed.
Check-in points:
- All airlines will keep their counters completely manned, especially during peak hours.
Additionally:
- Flights during peak hours will be reduced between 5 am to 9 am. It may also explore moving some flights to T1 and T2 or non-peak hours at T3. The peak hours are from 5 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 8 pm.
Officials said Scindia inspected in the morning the arrangements made to address the congestion, and key directions were issued with specific timelines. The measures will be implemented soon, and the changes are expected to take effect in the next six to seven days, the officials added.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital is the country’s largest airport. It has three terminals — T1, T2 and T3. All international flights and some domestic services operate from T3.
On average, it handles around 1.90 lakh passengers and about 1,200 flights daily.
(with inputs from PTI)
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