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Scindia reviews airport ops ahead of peak travel season
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday held a meeting with airline and airport operators to discuss operations and passenger convenience ahead of the peak summer travel season.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday held a meeting with airline and airport operators to discuss operations and passenger convenience ahead of the peak summer travel season.
“Met with airline & airport operators to deliberate on a roadmap for infrastructure & processes to cater to the record growth projections in the no. of passengers travelling through air. With a whole of govt approach, we are committed to facilitate quicker & smoother processing at major metro airports in India,” Scindia said in a tweet.
According to ministry officials familiar with the details of the meeting, airport operators were directed to carry out a thorough internal analysis of the air traffic management (ATM) and space requirements to ensure there is no clogging at any point at airports.
“The stakeholders were told that it was their collective responsibility to ensure that airlines are able to fly up to their maximum capacity even during peak hours,” a ministry official said, seeking anonymity.
As per aviation consultancy CAPA India, Indian airport operators are projected to report a 26% rise in revenues at $3.9 billion in the next financial year. For 2023-24, air passenger traffic in the country, including domestic and international, is expected to be 395 million, it said.
Ministry officials also said that Scindia asked stakeholders to look at capacity building of infrastructure and manpower at every point of operations (check-in security, immigration, etc).
“This has been directed to ensure a smooth process for passengers on one hand, and options for airlines to fly more at all hours on the other, in an indication to move the capacity curve upwards,” the official said.
In December, the Scindia had stepped in after complaints poured in of long delays at the Capital’s airport, where functionaries attributed problems to a host of issues, including security staff shortage and an increase in footfall due to the wedding season.
Scindia had asked the airport authorities to address the issues on a priority basis. He also held several meetings and conducted surprise visits to monitor the crowd management at terminal 3 of the airport.
A slew of measures was ordered to manage the passengers and decongest the airports. These included reducing flights during peak hours (between 5am and 9am), shifting a few flights at Delhi from T3 to T1 and T2 or to non-peak hours at T3 and introducing more x-ray machines to clear the travelers from the security hold area (SHA).
