Chandigarh airport reopens today, gets five new aerobridges

MOHALI: Five new aerobridges (passenger boarding tunnels) and five new conveyor belts will be made operational when the Chandigarh international airport resumes operations from Monday, said Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) chief executive officer (CEO) Ajay Bhardwaj on Sunday.
He said the airport was working with just two aerobridges. The rest of the passengers had to walk through off-contact walkways to board the flight. Also, passengers had to wait for long for their baggage because only a single conveyor belt was operational.

“Now, we have five aerobridges with direct contact for passengers boarding flights. We have a capacity for nine aircraft to dock at a single time. But to start with, we will only be using three to four aircraft docking facilities,” said Bhardwaj. Secondly, five conveyor belts have also been made functional to make passengers wait for less time and help in clearing the rush, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic protocol, he added. Bhardwaj said the airport is heading towards providing international standards all other facilities like world-class cafeterias, duty free shops and waiting lounge will be soon made functional.
Meanwhile, all passengers belonging to Punjab will be tested for Covid-19 at the airport. If tested negative, they will have to undergo mandatory home quarantine for 14 days.