PremiumMany passengers took to social media to complain about long waiting hours and some also shared pictures of long queues at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has ordered various congestion measures as decongestion measures at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The officials told PTI that a four-point action plan has been drawn up by airport operator DIAL and the ministry to put in place immediate remedial measures.
Many passengers took to social media to complain about long waiting hours and some also shared pictures of long queues at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).
As per ANI report, on Saturday, a team of senior officials of MoCA visited T3 to inspect each passenger and baggage checkpoint. The Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation will also be visiting the airport to address the issue. Prior to that on December 7, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia met officials regarding the airport congestion complaints and discussed steps to sort out the issue. The discussion was also on the capacities required at every point to process domestic and international passengers smoothly through the peak travel season.
During the meeting, various initiatives, including plans for peak hour capacity-based on passenger processing capacity at each airport, were also discussed.
Here's all you need to to know about the 4-point action plan:
The ministry to put in place immediate remedial measures such as increasing the number of X-ray screening systems to 16 from the earlier 14, PTI has reported
The officials told PTI that discussions are also going on with airlines to reduce the number of flights during peak hours at the three terminals. The effort is to have 14 flights at T3, 11 in T2 and 8 in T1 during these hours. The peak hours are from 5 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 8 pm. The spokesperson said the number of departures during the peak hours at T3 has declined from 22 during the pre-pandemic period to 19 in November, and discussions are on to look at further reducing the flight numbers.
Among other measures, the officials said the reserve lounge would be demolished and two entry points at Gate 1A and Gate 8B at T3 would be converted for passenger usage.
DIAL is leveraging technology, wherever possible, like use of AI-based passenger tracking system for proactive monitoring and messaging to passengers and airport employees on waiting time. In future, the implementation of DigiYatra should also help reduce the waiting time, the statement said.
A spokesperson for the airport operator DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd) on Saturday said it is working constantly with the stakeholders -- CISF and Immigration -- to cope with the demand which includes deployment of additional systems and manpower.
"We have deployed additional manpower to guide passengers, especially at the key choke points and shifted one additional X-Ray machine. Additional manpower requirements will also have to be addressed by all stakeholders, including CISF and Immigration, to further improve the situation," the DIAL spokesperson said in a statement.
In the last two days, the officials said DIAL has taken various steps such as having additional traffic martials at the departure forecourt of T3 to avoid vehicular congestion. Besides, dedicated people have been deployed at the entry gates to help passengers. The officials said an additional X-ray machine has been installed at T3 domestic and more manpower has been deployed in the ATRS (Automatic Tray Retrieval System) area to help passengers for tray preparation and congestion management. Apart from this, awareness posters have also been put at the entry gates to make sure that passengers are ready with boarding cards.
On Saturday, the DIAL spokesperson also said that new infrastructure and facilities are being created under phase 3A expansion plan such as opening of new Terminal 1 (T1) arrivals and phased opening of integrated T1.
Earlier on 10 December, Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in a conversation on Twitter explained as what was causing long delays at Delhi Airport.
In a tweet, Kapoor wrote, “What I see is security at Delhi T3 has more onerous requirements than other Indian airports, eg all electronics including wires need to be out. And too many bags - almost half? - sent for secondary checks. This slows things down and clogs up the x-ray belt."
“Further, because the processing is slow and manual and the belts get clogged and backed-up, DEL T3 is unable to use all 5 or 6 pax belt loading points simultaneously as intended, and use only 1 or 2 at a time blocking the rest off, defeating the logic of the design. Fixable," he added.
Responding to Sanjiv Kapoor's tweet, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma blamed the T3’s new X-ray machines for it.
Litsting four points, he wrote, “T3’s new X-Ray machines have slowed it: 1) Multiple entry to X-ray are made liner. 2) Obligation to push everything in tray (even box / bags) takes more time. 3) Manual rechecks are lethal lengthy. 4) Reload of tray Simply brining previous machines could have immediate impact!"
(With inputs from agencies)