Government creates new five point plan to be followed to avoid congestion at Delhi Airport

People wait to receive passengers at the arrival section of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. (Reuters file image)

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on December 12 came out with a new five-point action plan in order to avoid congestion at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

As part of its action plan, the government has asked Delhi airport to display wait time at each entry gate at arrivals.

"A command center will monitor crowding at the gates real-time," the ministry said in a statement.

The government has also asked Delhi International Airport to deploy crowd managers and ushers to guide travelers.

Airlines will be notified of the crowd numbers so that check-in points can be made congestion-free. Real-time updates on wait time will also be posted on social media, the ministry said.

The government has also asked airlines to keep their check-in counters completely manned, especially during peak hours.

The government today also asked Delhi Airport to increase the Automatic Tray Retrieval System used for security checks.

"The number of security check counters has been increased to 16 (10 ATRS + 6 conventional x-ray machines ) in the last few days. This will be increased further to 17 soon, and subsequently to 20," the ministry said.

The ministry also said that an analysis of the manpower requirements at immigration counters will be undertaken immediately at Delhi Airport, and if need be, additional manpower will be deployed.

The ministry also said that it will work with airlines and airports to reduce flights during peak hours between 5 am to 9 am.

Furthermore, the government may also explore moving some flights to Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 or non-peak hours at Terminal 3.

Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia visited Delhi airport on December 12 and held discussions with all stakeholders on ways to address the congestion at the airport.

Scindia, along with senior ministry officials, visited Terminal 3 of the airport amid complaints from passengers about long queues and waiting hours in recent days.

Officials said the minister inspected in the morning the arrangements made to address the congestion, and key directions were issued with specific timelines.

The measures will be implemented soon, and the changes are expected to take effect in the next six to seven days, the officials said.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital is the country's largest airport. It has three terminals -- T1, T2, and T3. All international flights and some domestic services operate from T3.

On average, it handles around 1.90 lakh passengers and about 1,200 flights daily.

The aviation ministry last week asked the Delhi airport to increase the total number of X-ray screening systems to 16 from 14 in order to cope with the passenger inflow.

The airport will demolish one of the lounges and add an ATRS machine and two standard X-ray machines. ATRS stands for Automatic Tray Retrieval System.

The ministry also asked the airport to convert two entry points (gates 1A and 8B) for passenger use. These are currently used by airport staff.

Further, the government is working with airlines to reduce the number of domestic departures from terminal 3 (T3) to 14 at peak hours, from 19 currently.

The officials said discussions are also going on with airlines to reduce the number of flights during peak hours at all terminals. Plans to shift some domestic flights from T3 to T2 are also being discussed.