Amid congestion, crowding concerns, and major delays at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), airline IndiGo has asked passengers to reach the airport at least 3.5 hours before their departure time. The airline in a travel advisory asked the passengers to carry only one hand baggage up to 7 kilograms so that the security check is smoother and without hassles.
IndiGo in its social media post on Twitter said, "The Delhi airports are experiencing high footfalls and the check-in and boarding time is expected to be longer than usual. Passengers are requested to reach the airport at least 3.5 hrs prior to domestic departures, and to carry only 01 piece of hand baggage weighing 7 kgs for a smooth security check."
So now, if someone is travelling from Delhi to Chennai and the flight timing is at 12.10 pm, the passenger is supposed to report at 8.40 am at the airport.
The airline has added that the passengers should use gate number 5 and 6 to get inside the Delhi airport, T3, as these entry points are nearest to the Indigo counters.
Chaos at airport
Many passengers have been experiencing long waiting hours at the Delhi airport since Sunday. As per social media postings, the passengers had faced problems like long waiting hours due to fewer counters, smaller space, and limited security staff.
Airport officials at the Delhi airport’s T3 terminal have reportedly said that the increased congestion and chaos are due to the year-end rush of travellers. The rush is more this year as the Covid restrictions were lifted, and domestic tourism saw a boost in general.
The T3 terminal, which saw the maximum chaos in the last few days, is one of the busiest conjunction points in the country and manages over 500 domestic and 250 international flights. The daily passenger footfall is around 1.9-1.95 lakh, as per the ministry. As per data shared by DIAL, the Delhi airport has reduced the number of flights for decongestion – from 22 flights per hour (pre-Covid) to 19 flights per hour (November 2022).
A ministry official reportedly told the media that "fresh proposals have been made to reduce 14 flights at T3, 11 in T2, and 8 in T1 flights to deal with the pressure".
Minister at service
Looking at the ongoing chaos at the Delhi airport, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday visited the terminal to take stock of the situation. Upon reviewing the existing system, the minister said a discussion was held with stakeholders such as the “CISF, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), DIAL, and all the airlines”, who also studied bottlenecks at the airport and how to ease them.
Scindia on Monday said: “We have gone from a Covid era of zero passengers to actually surpassing the pre-Covid numbers.”
To avoid chaos at the airport, several measures have been adopted at the terminals. Such as the deployment of four additional traffic marshals (12 traffic marshals on the ground) at the departure forecourt to avoid vehicular congestion, awareness posters asking passengers to be ready with boarding cards at the entry gate, and an extra X-Ray machine at the T3.
Posters for do's and dont's for the passengers and additional manpower deployment in the Automatic Tray Return Systems (ATRS) area have been done to minimise the chaos.
Besides, plans are afoot to convert two entry points - Gate 1A and Gate 8B - for passenger use, and to de-bunch flights. Airlines have been asked to work progressively to reduce peak-hour departures, ministry officials said.
(With agency inputs)