Against provision of five, Chandigarh international airport has just two aerobridges
Not up to the expectations: More than two and a half years after it was inaugurated, Chandigarh international airport hasn’t delivered on the provision of 5 aerobridges; what’s more out of three, one is lying defunct for more than a year.
Chandigarh International airport started functions in September 2015 with the promise of world class infrastructure for the flyers. Two and a half years on, it is yet to achieve full customer satisfaction.
Take the case of aerobridges. Two are currently functioning at the airport against the provision of five.
Aerobridges play an important role in customer service as it directly connects the flyer with the airplane from the terminal. One aerobridge costs approximately Rs 8 crore.
This is convenient for passengers for all ages specially senior citizens and those on wheelchairs as they face less hassle in deboarding or boarding the plane.
But its potential is not fully utilised here. “At the old terminal building we had two aerobridges and new airport that came up with over Rs 1,000 crore investment has two as well. Practically nothing much has changed for the flyers, except more space,” said an airline official.
It began with three aerobridges
To start with, the airport had three aerobridges. While two were newly installed, third aerobridge was shifted from the old terminal. The one shifted worked for some time but then it was declared unsafe around a year back after a technical assessment. It developed jerking movements and was declared non-functional since it could hurt planes and passengers.
However, a year has gone and the defunct aerobridge is yet to be replaced.
“The airport authorities must step up efforts to install new one for the sake of passenger convenience,” said an airline official.
The airport CEO, Sunil Dutt, said the proposal to install new aerobridge is under consideration and it will be installed in a phased manner. An airport official said, “It may take eight to twelve months given that the Airport Authority of India has to replace 10-15 aerobridges country wide.”
But there’s hope as whenever the procurement begins, Chandigarh airport is at the top of their priority. “We are hopeful for getting two aerobridges,” he said.