Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Delhi airport is faring well on the passenger satisfaction index so far.
But how is the ambitious modernisation process coming along?
The traffic snarls greet you as you approach the terminal. However, with the passenger traffic soaring at a 26 per cent per annum, jostling your way through the jams will not get easier anytime soon.
"When taxis are not allowed to come, what are we supposed to do?" says a passenger.
“Commuting is a problem,” adds another passenger.
More over entering the terminal means a desperately hunting for a trolley and often falling victim to endless queues.
The Delhi airport is still not ready to handle the baggage of 60,000 passengers a day.
“We are working at increasing our capacity, whether it is in the air or on the terminal side,” says DIAL Spokesperson, Arun Arora.
With only eight x-ray units, baggage screening poses as the next hurdle, but the authorities say there is a solution for that too---not now but soon.
“We are introducing inline baggage which will ease traffic and crowds at terminal and reduce the size of queues,” says Arora.
And while checking in at the domestic terminal isn't too daunting just 78 check in counters for the 53 odd airlines flying out of the IGI terminal is still way short of international standards.
“I don't think it is well managed,” says a passenger.
While another adds, “I forgot where to get in.”
But the biggest bottleneck is the lack of immigration counters, which even officials from the Civil Aviation Ministry noted during a surprise midnight check.
"On the immigration side, we saw a huge queue, virtually a stampede situation,” says Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation, K N Srivastav.
In the meantime, this is the big Indian dream that GMR is selling these days with a promise of this world-class facility being up by 2010.
Till then, it is going to be one long wait for the passengers.
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