Opinion The chaos at IGI Terminal 3: The urgent need to expand infrastructure

Over the past few days, reports have described chaotic scenes at Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3 in Delhi. The long lines at the airport entry points, immigration, check-in and security counters have caused considerable delays for passengers, leading some to even miss their flights. Similar stories of chaos at other airports across the country have been doing the rounds. In fact, in recent days, major airports in the world have witnessed traffic congestion. Part of the surge in travellers can be traced to the post-pandemic easing of travel restrictions — air traffic has grown to levels higher than in the pre-Covid era. It is also true that travelling tends to increase during the holiday season. But, at the same time, it is unfortunate that the surge in travellers has come up against an inadequate ramp-up of the corresponding infrastructure facilities. For a country that aspires to be the third largest economy in the world by the end of the decade, the scenes at its international airport are a let-down.

The IGI airport ranks as one of the busiest in the world with a capacity to handle around 70 million passengers every year. In October this year, it was the 10th busiest airport with respect to seat capacity and frequency of domestic and international flights. However, if demand for air travel has surpassed its current handling capacity, then it is only appropriate that both airlines and airport operators expand the facilities — for instance, by increasing the number of counters, personnel and gates — and analyse the choke points to plan measures to ease congestion. A careful assessment must also be made of the manpower requirements at the security and immigration counters considering the surge in international travellers. Though it is likely that once the airport in Noida is operational, the congestion at Delhi airport will be eased, expansion of infrastructure at IGI, whether it involves enlarging existing terminals or building new ones, must be urgently accelerated.

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The civil aviation ministry has responded to the public outcry over the disorder at Delhi airport by issuing guidelines to ease the congestion. These include reducing the number of flights during peak hours, directing airport authorities to set up and ensure real-time monitoring of crowds, among others. The measures announced, while helpful, are unlikely to greatly ease the congestion immediately. As the economy grows in size, and income levels rise, the surge in demand for air travel needs to be anticipated, and appropriate action plans drawn up to enhance the system-wide capacity.