Delhi airport to offer express check-in for passengers with only hand baggage

This facility in the Delhi airport will enable domestic passengers travelling without check-in baggage to head straight for security check and then to the boarding area without getting into the check-in area.

Passengers travelling from Delhi airport with only handbags can now enter Terminal 2 through a dedicated corridor that will take them directly towards security check, away from the airport’s common check-in area. This, officials say, will help passengers save time and also help airlines improve their on-time performance.

Officials say this step will help passengers save time and also help airlines improve their on-time performance. (HT Photo)

The facility is only for domestic passengers. Introduced at Terminal 2 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday, it will be extended to other terminals soon, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said.

The airport operator said this facility will enable domestic passengers travelling without check-in baggage to head straight for security check and then to the boarding area without getting into the check-in area.

This facility will significantly reduce the load on the main security check-in area by diverting passengers towards the ‘Express Lane’, DIAL said.

“With the new facility in place, a domestic passenger, after printing his/her boarding pass from the newly installed ‘self-service kiosks’ outside Terminal 2, can now enter the terminal through the ‘Express Security Check Lane’. This lane takes the flyer straight to the security check area, without getting into the common check-in area with other passengers. This lane will have dedicated security staff and a separate X-Ray machine for scanning their belongings,” DIAL said.

With a smoother and faster security check, the new process will also benefit the airlines by improving their on-time performance, the airport operator said.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, the CEO, DIAL, said, “We will gradually extend the facility to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. CISF has played a vital role in supporting the implementation of this facility.”

Delhi airport’s Terminal 2 handles about 45,000 domestic passengers daily, of which, more than 13,000 passengers (about 30%) travel without any check-in baggage. In the wake of increasing passenger flow, recently, the security check area at the airport was enhanced to offer more security lanes for domestic passengers, DIAL said.

This service was earlier successfully implemented at GMR’s Hyderabad Airport in August 2017. Hyderabad airport was the first airport in India to provide an express check-in facility for its domestic passengers with hand baggage only, it said.