The arrival hall at the international terminal of the Chennai airport, which has remained idle for five years, will now be turned into a departure hall and opened for public in the first week of October. Though the space will not be used as an arrival hall, it may at least reduce congestion.
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said they have been in the process of converting this hall into a departure hall due to lack of immigration and customs staff.
“There will be additional check-in, security and immigration counters for passengers. The existing departure hall in the international terminal [which is on the first floor] and the arrival hall [which will be converted to departure hall now] will be linked, so the passengers can easily move from one floor to another,” an official said.
This hall will now have 20 check-in counters, 10 immigration and three security frisking booths, he said; at present, the international terminal has 56 check-in counters, 22 immigration and eight security frisking booths, he added.
The arrival operations will continue to happen, as always, from the old arrival hall in the old international terminal.
Passengers flying from the international terminal have complained on numerous occasions about the congestion and long queues. They have taken to social media several times to express their anger.