New Delhi (The Hawk): Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of civil aviation, paid an unexpected visit to the Delhi airport on Monday amid growing complaints about disorder and improper crowd control there.
According to sources, the Minister and senior officials took note of the numerous factors and gave instructions to the officials and airport operator to act right away to improve crowd control, particularly during peak hours.
According to sources, the officials have been told to expand the number of check-in stations and entry gates, as well as the number of machines there. Additionally, it has been suggested to the relevant authorities that they reduce the number of flights during the busiest period.
The civil aviation ministry and airport operator DIAL had created a 4-point action plan earlier this week as urgent corrective actions at the Delhi airport.
The idea calls for adding two more X-ray screening systems to the 14 that are already in place. With this, there will be 16 X-ray systems altogether. Two common X-ray machines will be added, one ATRS machine will be removed, and the Reserve Lounge will be demolished. Two access points were also included in the proposal. Gates 1A and 8B will be modified for passenger use and flight debunching in order to gradually cut the number of peak hour departures to 14.
As travellers faced lengthy lines and extended wait times inside the airport grounds, complaints about disorder and poor crowd management at the Delhi airport continued to flood in.
The last several days have seen a steady increase in aviation traffic, and major airports, notably Delhi and Mumbai, have begun to experience lengthier lines of air travellers. Even on weekdays, the number of air travellers passing through airports has already surpassed the four lakh threshold.
With over 1,100 flights per day, Delhi Airport is one of the busiest in the nation. T3 is the busiest of the terminals, handling over 250 foreign flights and close to 500 domestic flights between December 1 and 7. According to sources, the operators have decided to move the planes from the T3 terminal due to the crowd.
In a crucial meeting with various stakeholders earlier this week on December 7, Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia discussed the capacities deployed and requirements to process air passengers smoothly after taking note of the difficulties faced by travellers at congested airports in the nation. Various stakeholders, including the CISF, BCAS, airport operators, and others, also attended the conference.
(Inputs from Agencies)