With several passengers complaining about serpentine queues at security checkpoints of the Delhi airport, India's largest airline IndiGo has requested domestic passengers to reach the airport at least 3.5 hours prior to their flight departure.
The budget carrier also asked flyers to carry only 1 piece of hand baggage weighing 7 kilograms for a smooth security check.
"The Delhi airports are experiencing high footfalls and the check-in and boarding time is expected to be longer than usual," the no-frills carrier says in a tweet. "Please use gate numbers 5 and 6 for entry at Delhi airport, Terminal 3, as these are nearest to the IndiGo check-in counters," it adds.
The advisory comes hours after Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia visited the Delhi airport amid reports of congestion at Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport. After his meeting with the officials, Scindia said the number of entry gates have been increased from 14 to 16 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3. It was decided that a board should be placed at every entry gate to display the waiting time, he said.
India's domestic passenger traffic increased 13% year-on-year in November 2022, aided by resilient passenger demand and onset of the peak season, according to ICRA. Domestic traffic stood at 23.4 million, 93% of pre-Covid levels (similar period in FY20) in November 2022. Overall, the recovery in domestic passenger traffic has been strong since April 2022, supported by the easing of travel restrictions, resilient passenger demand, reopening of offices, and increase in business and leisure travel.
"Passenger traffic is expected to sustain the healthy growth momentum backed by the onset of the peak season along with the resumption of business travel. With a strong rebound and healthy momentum in domestic passenger traffic and the uptick in international passenger, the overall air passenger traffic is expected to grow by 71-73% and reach 324- 327 million (95-96% of pre-Covid levels) in FY2023," says Vinay Kumar G, vice-president, Corporate Ratings, ICRA.
ICRA expects overall domestic passenger traffic to reach 97-98% of pre-Covid levels in FY23 and international traffic to reach 87%-90% of pre-Covid levels by end-FY23.
In order to meet the challenges presented by this unprecedented growth in air traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other private airport operators have taken up the development of new and existing airports with a projected capital expenditure of around ₹98,000 crore over the next five years. The central government has accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up of 6 greenfield airports namely, Dholera (worth ₹1,305 crore) and Hirasar (₹1,405 crore) in Gujarat, Dagadarthi (₹293 crore), Bhogapuram (₹2,500 crore) and Oravakal (Kurnool) (₹187 crore) in Andhra Pradesh and Donyi Polo (₹646 crore), Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh during the last seven years.
During the last five years, AAI has leased out six of its airports at Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram to Gautam Adani-led Adani Enterprises.
