Delhi airport, from bad to worse

The Indira Gandhi International Airport has become a nightmare-come-true for passengers due to the ongoing renovation work, reports Sidhartha Roy.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport has become a nightmare-come-true for passengers, thanks to the ongoing renovation work. After missing trolleys, leaking and falling ceilings, defunct conveyor belts and crawling air traffic comes the latest — fewer check-in counters.

HT Image

Once passengers manage to reach the airport through roads permanently choc-a-bloc with traffic, the trying times begin. They have to stand in serpentine queues. The reason: While the number of air passengers have multiplied in the last couple of years, the number of check-in and emigration counters remain the same. The situation worsened in the last few days when, on the pretext renovation, about four check-in counters were shut at the international departure terminal.

IGIA has 78 check-in counters at present, much short of what’s required. “While even 78 counters were falling short, passengers have to make do with 74 and it has resulted in longer queues,” said an airport official. “The problem was caused by the ongoing renovation work in an already congested airport,” he added.

Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. — which is modernising the airport — wanted to shift the check-in counters to a different place. The space that was earmarked for this was occupied by a X-ray machine of an international airline. The airline simply refused to make way for the check-in counters. After all, who cares for passengers?