Calcutta airport is set to do a U-turn on congestion and chaos. Check-in islands shaped like a U, each with 16 to 18 airline counters, are coming up in the first-level departure lounge of the integrated terminal as part of a crowd-management strategy that Delhi’s Terminal 3 has already adopted with success.
“This is a concept new to India. The U-shaped islands will be the crux of the integrated baggage management system at the new terminal,” airport director B.P. Sharma said. The integrated terminal will have as many as eight check-in islands from one end to the other, each equipped with an assistance counter for fliers.
Officials say the system would allow up to 144 fliers to check in simultaneously, almost three times more than would be possible if all 50 counters at the existing domestic terminal were to be kept open. “The technology is German. The modular check-in islands are expected to arrive by October and installation will start immediately,” airport director Sharma said.
The existing domestic terminal has 50 check-in counters in front of which snaking queues form during the morning and late-afternoon rush hours every day. On an average, a flier has to stand 15 minutes in a queue to deposit his or her registered baggage and get the boarding pass. The queues at the check-in and security-check counters often merge, triggering confusion and forcing airlines to delay departures.
» Read Complete News.....(You need to login first to read complete news). New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News