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Delhi airport rush: Aviation minister steps in to resolve issues
A Delhi airport spokesperson said they were in discussion with airlines to reduce peak hour departures from T3 terminal by 15%, which will require shifting some flights to terminals 1 and 2 and reschedule some others
NEW DELHI: Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said he will look into concerns around the management of security checks at Delhi’s T3 Indira Gandhi (IGI) airport in response to a complaint by a passenger on social media.
“Looking into this,” Scindia said in a post on Twitter after a passenger complained that the situation at security checks before boarding “was an utter mess”. There have been many other posts as well, mostly underlining delays at security checkpoints at the airport entrance and the security check before passengers move into what the airport classifies as security hold area for passengers waiting to board the aircraft.
A Delhi airport official later said the minister has ordered airport officials to resolve the issues on priority. “The airport has already discussed the matter with all the airlines and the matter should be solved within a week,” the official said.
A spokesperson for Delhi airport added: “Delhi airport has deployed 26 additional staffers to help passengers in the entry forecourt and security area and is working with the security agency CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) to have full manning through flexi shift from 5am to avoid queue build-up”.
“We are also in discussion with airlines to reduce the peak hour departures from terminal (T3) by 15%. However, For this some flights need to be shifted to T1/T2 and need to reschedule a few,” the spokesperson added.
The CISF public relations officer did not respond to HT’s calls and text messages.
A second airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the T3 was witnessing crowding during the day because the footfall at the airport has returned close to the pre-pandemic levels, particularly on the domestic sector front.
“While footfall on the international front is yet to pick up to the same level, we are seeing high footfalls, equivalent to pre-pandemic levels in the domestic sector and during windows where a number of flights are taking off or landing, some congestion is being seen,” the official said.
A frequent flier who asked not to be named said he didn’t see enough CISF officials to manage the rush of passengers.
On Twitter, RR Sahay, a retired Indian Forest Service from Maharashtra said: “Most difficult and challenging job at T3 of Delhi Airport is to go through Security Check-in. It took 40 minutes to get Security checking. Most of the passengers were exhausted during the process. Would @DelhiAirport care to make the system passenger friendly? @MoCA_GoI @JM_Scindia’
Another passenger, Daman Venu recalled facing the same problem when flying on the Delhi-Newark sector in September. Another user who identified herself as Elahe Hiptoola on Twitter said her brother missed his flight due to the mismanagement of the security agency. “My brother missed his flight despite being at the airport 2 hrs prior to departure. The next flight cost him ₹27k. I think @DelhiAirport authorities need to get their act together,” she said.
