Delhi airport congestion LIVE updates: High-level govt meeting kicks-off

What govt doing to decongest airports?

The aviation ministry has recommended a reduction in the number of flights and more manpower at all check-in and baggage drop counters between 5 am and 9 am (peak hours).

The government will also analyse manpower requirements at immigration counters and, if required, additional personnel will be deployed.

Is airport congestion an India-specific problem?

No. Air travel faces disruptions around the world. Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, needs to hire around 25,000 staff to manage peak hours. Schiphol in Amsterdam has imposed a 20% cap on capacity to manage traffic. The aviation industry laid off thousands of people during the pandemic, and expects staff strength to realign by mid-2023.

Delhi airport congestion: CISF DG reaches MHA for the meeting

CISF DG Sheel Vardhan Singh has reached the Ministry of Home Affairs to participate in a meeting on the Delhi Airport rush.

What caused major airport jams in India?

-Unexpected surge in demand for air travel because of the holiday season. Air traffic has been 1-7% above pre-covid levels of 4 lakh daily flyers for the past 10 days, according to a Mint report.

-The strength of CISF personnel at check-in, the number of X-Ray machines and automatic trays for security, as well as baggage belts, have fallen short in handling the demand.

Delhi airport shares ‘waiting time’ updates at 10 am

According to 10 am updates by the Delhi airport, smooth terminal entry can be seen at all gates with an average waiting time of 1-4 minutes.

The airport authority has urged passengers to travel with only one hand baggage as cabin luggage to the airport and download DigiYatra App.

AAI asks Delhi airport operator about status of services

Government-owned AAI has asked Delhi airport operator DIAL to provide details on whether there has been any deficiency in providing services at the airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sought details about the status of services as per the Operation, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA) from DIAL, which is majority-owned by GMR group.

DIAL is the operator of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (DIAL), the country’s largest airport, operated under a Public Private Partnership.

Under the OMDA, which was inked back in 2006, the airport operator is required to comply with various service quality requirements.

The last report on the compliance of the objective service quality requirements as per the OMDA was submitted to AAI in October. This report was for July-September period.

Delhi airport congestion LIVE: Crucial meeting today to mitigate chaos

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla will chair a high-level meeting on the Delhi airport congestion issue today at the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The meeting is likely to be held at around 11 am. Senior officers in the MHA, officials in the Minister of Civil Aviation, and others concerned with the matter, including those in Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), will attend the meeting. CISF handles security at the Delhi airport.

Union Civil Aviation minister announces changes made in the Delhi airport to cater to traffic

Union Civil Aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia announced the changes made to tackle traffic in the airport-

– Passenger congestion at entry points/check-in counters at Terminal-3 of Delhi airport has eased with 4 more X-Ray machines added at Security Hold Area.

– In addition display boards showing wait time have been installed.

– CISF deployment already started, to progressively increase in coming days.

Necessary actions resulted in ‘least wait time’ at Delhi airport: Aviation ministry

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Wednesday said necessary actions taken to reduce congestion at the Delhi airport. It added that the significant measures have resulted in “least wait time” for boarding at check points and entry gates.

Listing out the measures, the ministry in a series of tweets said more Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) manpower are underway and four X-ray machines have been added for baggage check.

“Domestic security increased with 6 personnel with evenly distribution on all gates,” it said.

There is a command centre and count meter for crowd management. Besides, display boards have been installed at all departure entry gates of the airport, which provides real-time data and is being shared via social media, according to the ministry.

IGI to take measures to reduce congestion at Delhi airport’s T3 terminal

According to a senior IGI airport officer after the recent review of the terminal-3 infrastructure layout, the office of the CISF Commandant, terminal manager and another facility would be dismantled and more baggage x-ray scanners and passenger security queues will be created in this space.

A new x-ray scanning facility for pre-embarkation security checks of the staffers and crew of the airlines will also be installed in the domestic security check area of the IGI. The airlines have been directed to ease the bunching of flights in peak hours so that the queue for the security frisking moves at ease, he said.

Further, a CISF official said that they are looking at clearing passengers for about 14-15 flights from the present around 20-21 flights taking off from the domestic terminal of IGI during peak hours. 

CISF officers to supervise operations at security check area

A team of CISF officers has also been tasked to supervise the operations at the security check area and direct the private security guards who have been recently deployed at a number of airports to undertake non-core duties like helping passengers to line up, crowd management, and bar code scanning of boarding passes.

The leaves of the personnel posted at large airports have also been rationalised.

The CISF currently guards 65 civil airport terminals in the country through its special unit called the aviation security group (ASG) and its core task is to provide an anti-hijack and anti-terrorist cover to these facilities.

CISF brings over 100 personnel ‘over and above’ its sanctioned strength at Delhi, Mumbai airports each

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Wednesday added a pool of more than 100 personnel to man additional security counters at Delhi and Mumbai airports.

A CISF personnel said that the force has brought on board more than 100 personnel “over and above” its sanctioned strength of around 4,500 personnel at the Delhi and Mumbai airports each.

This move will continue till the upcoming holiday season due to Christmas and New Year celebration.

List of measures by Delhi airport for crowd management

1. Display boards have been installed at all departure entry gates of the airport, which provide real-time data and are being shared via social media.

2. Domestic security increased with 6 personnel evenly distributed at all gates.

3. Deployment of CCTV and Command Centre

4. Four X-ray machines were added for baggage check.

Delhi airport congestion: If you do not follow these guidelines you will miss your flight

Air India issued a travel advisory asking passengers to reach the airport at least 3.5 hours prior to domestic departures and 4 hours for international departures.

InidiGo advised passengers to reach the airport at least 3.5 hours prior to domestic departures and carry only one piece of hand baggage, weighing 7 kg, for a smooth security check. IndiGo has also advised passengers to use gate numbers 5 and 6 for entry at Delhi Airport, Terminal 3, as these are nearest to the IndiGo check-in counters.

SpiceJet has advised passengers for domestic flights to reach “2.5 hours prior to flight departure time and 3.5 hours prior for international travel.

Vistara has asked passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to domestic as well as international flights

Delhi airport authority takes action for immigartion process

To streamline the immigration process, incoming international passengers are being encouraged to complete the Immigration Paper Landing Cards while onboard.

Manpower has also been deployed at the disembarkation point to facilitate passengers who have not filled the papers onboard, for speedy completion before they reach the immigration counter.

Action plan to reduce congestion at Delhi airport; all you need to know

To control congestion during peak hours, an action plan has been put out in place by authorities at Terminal 3 of the IGI airport. This after Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia personally took stock of the situation last Wednesday.

Officials said certain changes have been effected at DIAL airport T3 in the last four days and these pertain to several areas, including entry, security, and the immigration process. They said real-time updates on waiting time will be posted on social media.

Traffic marshals have been posted at the departure forecourt to avoid vehicular congestion, officials said.

Officials said there are 16 entry gates at T3 (14 for passengers and two for crew). Two additional gates have been opened, taking the total to 18 gates (16 for passengers, 2 for crew).

In terms of security, additional X-ray machines have been installed in T3’s domestic terminal. Additional manpower has also been deployed in the ATRS (Automatic Tray Retrieval System) area to help passengers to retrieve trays and ensure congestion management.

Parliamentary Committee for Transport summons CEO of IGI airport

The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Transport, Tourism, and Culture has summoned the chief executive officer of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and others on 15 December as passengers face congestion at the IGI airport.

CISF adds 100 more personnel to control crowd

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) added 100 more personnel to man new security counters

Why has Delhi airport been overcrowded?

There could be several reasons behind it, such as passengers are inversely proportional to security staff and counters.

The congestion could also be due to the upcoming holiday season – with Christmas and New Year’s just around the corner.

It could also be a case of revenge travel. Revenge travel is slang for leisure travel when one takes a vacation after being unable to do so for a long time. Many people had not been able to travel due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Domestic air traffic is on the rise, and airlines carried more than 4.18 lakh people on 12 December

Deploy adequate manpower at counters: Centre

Yesterday, the civil aviation ministry asked airlines to deploy adequate manpower at all check-in and baggage drop counters.

Besides, the ministry has requested the scheduled airlines to place real time data on their social media feeds regarding waiting time at respective airports’ entry gates.

Asking passengers to come early won’t solve the problem: Business strategist

Angel investor and business strategist Lloyd Mathias said that asking passengers to come 3-4-5 hours earlier won’t solve the problem. The former CMO at Motorola suggested to increase, “Counters, speedup check-in’s; have better tech for REAL baggage drop and work with AAI and CRPF for smarter security”.

Airlines ask flyers to come early to the airport to catch flights

All domestic airlines have urged passengers to reach as early as possible to the airport so they don’t miss flights. Due to long queues at the airports, especially Delhi airport Terminal 3, several passengers missed their flights in the past few days. To resolve the situation, the airlines asked travellers to visit early to the airport terminal.

IndiGo and Air India have asked passengers to reach Delhi airport at least 3.5 hours prior to domestic departures.

Vistara asked its passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to domestic as well as international flights.

Jet Airways CEO lauds Delhi airport

Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor praised the Delhi airport authority for fixing the T3 terminal entry waiting times even at peak hours.

” Entry time 0-5 minutes at all entrances at all times yesterday and into this morning. No 15-30 min wait times at any time anymore,” Kapoor added.

Reach at least 3.5 hours before if you are flying from Delhi T3: Air passenger on social media

A journalist shared her experience of travelling through Delhi airport today.

She summarised it saying, “Do reach at least 3.5 hours before the morning flight if you are flying from Delhi T3”.

Use DigiYatra app, travel with one bag: Delhi airport to passenger

Delhi airport has shared two smart travel tips for passengers to avoid congestion at the T3 terminal. The airport authority has suggested passengers to use DigiYatra app and carry only one hand baggage as cabin luggage to the airport.

Waiting time period reduced: Delhi airport

The Delhi airport has claimed that smooth terminal entry was seen at the gates on Wednesday, with an average waiting time of 0-5 minutes. In a series of tweets, the DIAL maintained that waiting time at the entry gates reduced on 14 December.