Smooth Movement at Entry Gates but Long Queue Inside Still Add To Passengers' Woes at Delhi Airport

Smooth passenger movement was observed at all entry gates of Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Wednesday morning with an average waiting time under five minutes. While there was no crowd at the entry gates, passengers faced long queues at the counters inside the airport.

Some passengers took to social media and flagged that the entry to the airport was smooth but there still was congestion at the security check and other counters inside.

Delhi airport, however, in a tweet giving an update at 10:30 am, said “swift passenger movement at the security check area at terminal 3, with an average waiting time of 7-8 minutes”.

Giving a “smart travel tip”, the tweet by Delhi airport mentioned: “For a smoother and faster security clearance, passenger shall carry only one hand baggage as their cabin luggage”.

On Tuesday, both IndiGo and Air India issued travel advisories, asking passengers arrive 3.5 hours ahead of flight. Both the airliners urged passengers to come with only one piece of cabin luggage for a seamless security check.

The advisory came in the wake of major congestion at the Delhi airport that the passengers have been complaining about, highlighting long waiting hours at the airport with some even sharing pictures of the crowd on social media.

Reports said that passenger inconvenience at key airports may last till the first week of January because of the holiday season. Domestic daily passengers in the country have been over 4,00,000 for the last ten days and hit a peak of over 4,28,000 on December 11.

The authorities on Monday put in place an action plan whereby flights during morning peak hours will be reduced and efforts will also be made to move some flights from Terminal 3. The action plan followed civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inspecting the arrangements at Terminal 3 (T3) to deal with the congestion.

Also Read: Reach 3.5 Hrs Early, Carry 1 Cabin Luggage: After IndiGo, Air India Issues Advisory Amid Delhi T3 Chaos

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has written a letter to all airlines regarding congestion at airports and requested them to place real time data on their social media feeds regarding waiting time at respective airports’ entry gates. The ministry also advised airlines to deploy sufficient manpower at all check-in/baggage drop counters well in advance to ensure de-congestion and smooth flow of passengers at airports.

“Airports in Delhi are experiencing heavier than usual footfall, resulting in longer boarding and check-in times. Passengers are requested to arrive at least 3.5 hours for domestic and 4 hours for international before their flight time and carry only 1 piece of cabin luggage for a seamless security check. We request our passengers to complete web check-in for faster movement at the airport,” read the travel advisory for Delhi airport by Air India.

Ministry of Civil Aviation Lists Steps Taken to Curb Congestion

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday highlighted the measures that have been taken to to curb congestion and waiting time at Delhi airport that have resulted in reduction in wait time for boarding at checkpoints, entry gates and smooth transit of passengers.

The ministry said in a tweet on Wednesday that 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”.

Listing the measures taken by Delhi airport, the ministry said domestic security has been increased with six personnel with evenly distribution on all gates, 4 X-ray machines added for baggage check among other steps.