Airport queue time same as flight duration

Airport queue time same as flight duration

Niyati.Parikh@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:  21.11.2021

Soon after the Diwali holidays, when Anuj Pathak, the owner of a citybased travel company, left for a holiday from the city airport, it took him an hour and a half to wade through the rush from the check-in counter to the boarding gate. “Fortunately, I had reached the airport two hours before or I would have missed my flight. The baggage conveyor belt at the check-in counter had malfunctioned, due to which the queue was very long,” Pathak said.

Amid the festive and wedding season, as travel has revived and flights are allowed to operate at 100% capacity, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport has been witnessing an unprecedented rush of fliers, especially during peak hours. At least 14,000 passengers transit through the airport every a day, according to airport sources. However, with multiple checkpoints and the rush, passengers say the time taken to get to the boarding gate is going up.

“Getting through the airport during peak hours was a nightmare. There is a queue at every check point right from entering the airport, to getting baggage screened to check-in and baggage drop counters to e-gates and security check. Even though we opted for priority check-in, it took us at least 45 minutes to reach the boarding gate. Perhaps increasing the number of check-in counters will help,” said Shalin Shah, who travelled from the city airport with his family for a vacation recently.

Besides the delay in getting through the crowd, long waiting times at the arrivals area is also a concern. “The parking and pick-up and drop area is very crowded at SVPI, leading a lot of chaos while exiting. It takes long for cabs or even private vehicles to enter the arrivals area because of the unmanaged rush,” said Monica Yadav, a city-based entrepreneur who is a frequent flier.

An email query sent to the city airport operator, asking about measures in place to manage the rush, went unanswered. Airport sources said some four e-gates have been installed after the check-in and baggage drop counters to speed up the security check process.

Passengers have also complained of not enough seating. Against footfalls of 14,000 passengers a day, the domestic terminal of the city airport has barely 560 seats in the security hold area for passengers to sit, a source said.

Passengers waiting for flights at SVPI