Ensure additional capacity, redesign systems to handle peak passenger movement: Civil Aviation ministry tells Mumbai, Bengaluru airport operators

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday asked the operators of Mumbai and Bengaluru airports to put in place additional capacity and redesign their systems as well as processes wherever required to deal with peak passenger movement.

Against the backdrop of complaints about congestion at various airports, the ministry also said the situation is likely to further ease in the coming days. On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal held a meeting with the operators of Mumbai and Bengaluru airports to take stock of measures for decongestion during peak hours.

The meeting was also attended by Director Generals of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other senior officials.

During the meeting, the secretary emphasised that airport operators have to provide the requisite facilities commensurate with the growth in number of passengers, facilitating hassle-free travel for air passengers.

The airport operators must install additional capacity and redesign their systems and processes, wherever needed to be in readiness for any peak demand scenario, according to a release issued by the ministry.

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Airport operators have been advised to give daily reports on efforts, including putting sign boards to indicate the real-time basis waiting time at entry gates, security lanes and also sharing of the same through social media feeds.

They have also been asked to check whether all airlines are manning their check-in counters adequately and about installation of additional X-ray machines to increase the number of security lanes.

Further, they were advised to look at rebalancing the peak hour flight schedule with the availability of security lanes and disseminating all the relevant information to passengers.

About congestion at airports, the ministry said, "with the continuous monitoring of the situation at major airports and augmentation of capacity, the situation has improved and is likely to get further eased in coming days".

The government had taken note that a few major airports are facing congestion and longer waiting time at various touch points in passenger processing due to an increase in the number of air travellers on account of seasonal travels.

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On December 7, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had directed major airport operators to identify bottlenecks and augment capacity to meet the growing passenger demand.

After being significantly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the country's civil aviation sector is on the recovery path. Domestic carriers flew 4,18,794 passengers on December 20.