Chennai airport is world class and fantastic but still unsatisfactory for many passengers - Why so?
Posted on: 06/Sep/2022 9:37:36 AM
It is now confirmed that Chennai airport is one of the busiest airports in India. It handles 400 flights operations every day. Though the airport does superbly regarding business etc but with respect to passenger experience the airport is not up to the mark.
Several issues regarding trolleys:
Many passengers find it difficult regarding carrying heavy luggage as trolleys are not arranged properly in the Chennai airport. In addition to this, lack of parking facilities for the passengers has been an issue here.
It is noteworthy that any cab service that enters the airport premises has a small window to avoid paying high parking fees. The parking fee is collected as soon as the vehicle enters the airport premises. Both passengers as well as taxi drivers feel stressed as they do not want to pay huge charges.
According to a source at the Chennai airport it was clear that there were about 19000 trolleys at the airport on any day. Truth is that most international passengers use 2 trolleys for their heavy luggage. The source added that the trolleys get collected from the parking area and taken back to the collection centre quickly.
It must be noted that before the Coronavirus induced lockdown there were just 70 employees to collect the trolleys from the parking area and GST Road. The actual situation is totally different because after the contract expired the Airport Authority of India or AAI has asked the staff to collect the trolleys. This has made the passengers go in search of the staff in the parking area and it has affected the efficiency.
It is shocking to find trolleys even at the GST Road and also at the entrance belonging to the railway station at Tirusulam. There are many trolleys in the car parking area everyday and this has been creating issues.
The passengers feel stressed searching for the trolleys as the trolleys are present in the parking area. Mostly, the passengers from foreign countries don`t know what to do regarding the lack of trolleys.
Clearing the trolleys is very important for smooth traffic flow in the airport and this has become a huge issue these days at the Chennai airport especially during the night time. There is no one to clear the trolleys here. It is well known that midnight is the peak hour in Chennai airport as many flights from foreign countries arrive here.
Issues regarding multi-level car parking:
Few years back, a multi-level car parking or MLCP project was announced by AAI in the airport at a cost of Rs 250 crores. This project was completed only in 2022 and is not yet inaugurated.
The superb piece of information is that in this MLCP as many as 1400cars could be accommodated easily at a time. It was supposed to be inaugurated in August itself but the inauguration has been postponed now. It was mentioned by a source belonging to AAI that getting NOC from the Fire and Pollution Control Board was delayed and that was one of the reasons for why MLCP was not yet inaugurated here. It was pointed out by an officer belonging to AAI that the MLCP would be opened soon but the exact date was not known. This was due to some legal issues present. He concluded that issues regarding trolleys would be addressed soon.
