Parliamentary committee raises concern over queues at Delhi, Mumbai airports
Mar 15, 2023
New Delhi [India], March 15 : Parliamentary Committee has recommended that the Ministry of Civil Aviation should focus on the expansion of terminals including the enhancement of the number of check-in counters and security check gates to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers.
On March 13, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture tabled its report on the Ministry of Civil Aviation in Parliament.
The Committee has also reviewed the issues related to congestion at various airports including Delhi and Mumbai. The Committee feels that such capacity constraints at major airports of the country reflect poor planning and urges the Ministry to issue necessary guidelines to the concerned airport operators in this regard.
It has recommended that the Ministry should focus on the expansion of terminals including the enhancement of the number of check-in counters and security check gates to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers.
The Committee has noted that in order to increase the revenue from non-aeronautical activities, the passengers are made to walk through the F&B outlets and retail shops at airports.
It has also proposed that the Ministry should direct the airport operators to identify an alternate passage to the boarding gates, for the aged and passengers with reduced mobility and provide them special assistance at all times.
The Committee opines that there are various capacity constraints at the existing airports/ terminals. For instance, a fourth runway (29 'right') at Terminal-1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi has not been operationalised due to some administrative reasons. The delay in the operationalization of this runway is hampering the capacity of a critical airport as flights are being delayed affecting the operational cost of airlines.
It has been recommended that the 4th runway (29 'right') at the Delhi airport should be operationalised at the earliest and an Action Taken Report may be furnished to the Committee.
The Committee said that it would also like to know the details regarding the aircraft of old/discontinued/non-operational airlines which are parked in the hangars/on the runways of various airports. The details regarding the parking fee being charged by the respective airport operators and plans to remove these aircraft may also be furnished.
