Passengers travelling during the peak travel season this winter can expect reduced inconvenience at 16 key airports, as the government has boosted security infrastructure to ensure ease of travel.
Authorities have reviewed boarding and check-in infrastructure at smaller airports too this year, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
“Metro airport operators of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai airports were directed to identify bottlenecks in passenger processing and augment their capacities to meet the growing passenger demands. Subsequently, 10 more airports, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Patna, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Cochin, were identified in September ‘23, where the airport operators were sensitised to take proactive measures to avoid congestion by augmenting capacities, wherever required,” the ministry said.
Additional space has been created at airports by restructuring available terminal infrastructure at several passenger touch points for operators to handle more passengers and reduce congestion, it said.
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Entry lanes have been increased by 46% from 213 to 312 between in the year to December. Check-in counters have increased by 24% from 1,316 to 1,633, baggage inspection machines at security checkpoints have been increased by 37% from 234 to 321 and Central Industrial Security Force personnel has been increased by 21% from 20,487 to 24,733. Immigration counters have been increased by 24% from 808 to 1,002.
{{/usCountry}}Entry lanes have been increased by 46% from 213 to 312 between in the year to December. Check-in counters have increased by 24% from 1,316 to 1,633, baggage inspection machines at security checkpoints have been increased by 37% from 234 to 321 and Central Industrial Security Force personnel has been increased by 21% from 20,487 to 24,733. Immigration counters have been increased by 24% from 808 to 1,002.
{{/usCountry}}New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport faced severe congestion in December last year, and many travellers missed flights. Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia made surprise visits to the airport and suggested measures to reduce congestion, which included increasing the number of X-ray machines, demolishing a VIP lounge, shifting a few flights from peak hours to manage crowds and increasing the number of entry gates.
The ministry has also been promoting the use of Digi Yatra, a system introduced in the beginning of 2023 amid an increasing number of footfalls.
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“On November 19 this year, airlines in India flew 456,910 domestic passengers. This was the highest single-day air traffic since the pandemic hit, marking a remarkable 7.4% surge above pre-Covid averages, a clear sign of recovery and resilience in the skies,” the ministry said.
Digi Yatra is aimed at easing passenger entry at airports based on facial recognition technology. “So far, over 35 lakh users have downloaded the Digi Yatra app,” the ministry said. Since its launch, more than 9.1 million passengers have used Digi Yatra for air travel.