Passengers are facing inconvenience due to congestion at key airports in the country. The situation is likely to remain the same for the next few weeks and is likely to be normal only by the first week of January 2023, after the holiday season ends.
There had been a record number of air passengers over the past few days. In India, domestic daily passengers have been over 4,00,000 for the last ten days and, on December 11, hit a peak of over 4,28,000. The earlier peak was 4,20,000 passengers in March 2020. This year, for the first time, daily domestic passenger numbers have consistently stayed over the 4,00,000 mark.
“The situation would ease with various initiatives announced after aviation minister’s Jyotiraditya Scindia visit to the Delhi airport, but it is likely to get normal once passengers going on holidays reduce, by the first week of January,” said a government official, reported Indian Express.
On Monday, Scindia held consultations with airports, airlines, and agencies. The minister announced several measures like the reduction in the number of flights during peak hours, redistribution of flights to other terminals, and increase in automatic tray retrieval systems as well as X-ray machines at busy airports.
On Tuesday, the government gave an order asking the airlines to ensure their counters at airports are always manned. The airlines are also requested to place real-time data on their social media feeds regarding waiting times at respective airports’ entry gates.
However, sources in airlines said airline counters are not the primary cause of delays. A long-term solution to the issue would be to bring in reforms in the standard operating procedures followed at security check-in gates, sources added.