A Central team involving different ministries is examining the allegations raised by Commissioner of Customs Sumit Kumar accusing the Airport Director of failing to make available basic infrastructure for the Customs wing at the airport and seeking his removal from the post.
Separate reports
Four agencies such as the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Customs Department, the Bureau of Immigration and the Central Industrial Security Force have been asked to sent separate reports to their respective heads. Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao has lodged a complaint with Chief Commissioner Pullela Nageswara Rao in Kochi against the Commissioner of Customs going to press with baseless allegations.
Sources said the Centre had taken a serious note of the statements of a senior government official under the Ministry of Finance going hammer and tongs at the Airport Director who functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
A report sent to the Centre stated that the Customs wing was facing problems, especially space crunch at the airport for installing two door frame metal detectors and X-ray scanners.
As of now, one each have been installed in a space of 4.7 metres in a congested corridor. The shifting of duty free shops downstairs has compounded the problem. At the same time, the domestic terminal had more than eight metres for its security system, it said.
Baggage handling system
Following directive of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, a state-of-the-art inline baggage handling system costing ₹2.5 crore was set up at the airport two years ago. This automated screening system helped speed up the pre-departure process of passengers, without compromising on security.
However, passengers go through a harrowing experience when they land at night. The Customs wing has to handle 1,700 passengers and about 3,000 pieces of luggage as at least 10 flights operate between 8 p.m. and 10.30 p.m.
On Fridays, flights from Gulf countries are fully packed and a majority of the passengers who arrive at 9 p.m. sometimes leave the airport only after 11 p.m.
The airport has only two 30-metre belts at the international terminal.
About 35 to 45 minutes time is consumed for clearing 300 pieces of luggage on a single flight. So, effectively a luggage is X-ray screened for seven seconds. At the immigration counter too, a passenger had to wait in queue for 25 minutes, sources said.
The issue will be solved with the opening of the new international terminal which will have five belts for clearing luggage.
However, the situation at Calicut is better than Thiruvananthapuram, another airport in the State under the AAI, the sources said.