‘A lot is being done, and more will be done’: Jyotiraditya Scindia says Indian aviation needs capacity increase

Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said on Wednesday that even though the congestion at Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport has eased after all agencies swung into action, this situation points to the fact that there has to be capacity increase across the board. 

Scindia said that all agencies swung into action in the last 24-36 hours to mitigate the congestion at every checkpoint at all major airports. At Terminal 3, four additional X-Ray machines have been added, display boards showing the wait time have been installed and CISF manpower has been deployed. He said more personnel will be added in the coming days. 

Similar steps have been emulated at the Bengaluru and Mumbai airports too. 

The minister said that this congestion is also driven by the uptick in domestic passenger traffic which has surpassed pre-COVID levels. The load factors have touched over 95 per cent, he said. Scindia said that it is a great time for Indian civil aviation and the entire circuit from airport operators and airlines to ground handlers and security are “fortunate to be operating at such a time”. 

He, however, pointed out that this boom also needs to be accompanied with capacity increase across the board. “India houses the third largest aviation market, and with that, we must also strive to be the best service providers. A lot is being done today, and much more will be done to brace for the future,” he said. 

Scindia also said that Rs 98,000 crore capex is in the pipeline for airports. As the aviation network is expanding beyond metros, there is a lot of potential. Unleashing of animal spirits has only begun, he said. 

“Till then, I am certain that the sector shall continue to ride on a steep learning curve, and emerge stronger from these challenges!,” he said. 

Scindia comments come after netizens took to social media to complain about the overcrowding, delay and congestion at the Delhi airport and other major airports. The minister, amid the complaints, made a surprise visit to Terminal 3 of Delhi airport. He met the officials and instructed them on how to handle the situation. Soon after, various measures were implemented to ease the experience of passengers and decongest the airports. 

Also read: Delhi airport chaos: Real-time display of waiting period, crowd management deployed 

Also read: Delhi airport chaos: Smooth passenger movement, waiting period up to 5 mins at entry gate, says DIAL