IndiGo Issues Advisory Amid Congestion At Delhi Airport

The airline has also asked passengers to ensure web check-ins and use gate number 5 and 6 for entry at the Terminal 3 as these are nearest to the IndiGo check-in counters.

New Delhi: Amid chaos and crowding at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Indigo airline has issued advisory for passengers to bring down congestion at the airport. The airline in its latest travel guidelines asked passengers to reach the airport at least 3.5 hrs prior to domestic departures. It has also asked the passengers to carry only one piece of hand baggage weighing 7 kgs for a smooth security check.

The airline has also asked passengers to ensure web check-ins and use gate number 5 and 6 for entry at the Terminal 3 as these are nearest to the IndiGo check-in counters.

#6ETravelAdvisory #DelhiAirportUpdate #goIndiGo @MoCA_GoI @JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/l9pDfm4Or6

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) December 12, 2022

The advisory comes in the wake of major congestion at the Delhi airport that the passengers have been complaining about, highlighting long waiting hours at the airport with some even shared pictures of the crowd at the airport on social media.

Action Plan To Reduce Congestion at Delhi Airport

To address Delhi airport congestion, authorities on Monday put in place an action plan whereby flights during morning peak hours will be reduced and efforts will also be made to move some flights from Terminal 3. The latest action plan follows civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inspecting the arrangements at Terminal 3 (T3) to deal with the congestion.

1. Apart from posting real-time updates on waiting time on social media, a command centre will monitor crowding at the gates on a real-time basis.
2. Crowd managers and usherers will guide travellers. Further, airlines will be notified about the crowd numbers so that check-in points can be made congestion-free.
3. Number of flights during 5 am to 9 am will be reduced and it will also be explored to move some flights to T1 and T2 or to non-peak hours at T3. The peak hours are from 5 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 8 pm.
4. At T3 domestic, additional ATRS (Automatic Tray Retrieval System) machines for baggage check will be deployed to help reduce the congestion.
5. Manpower requirements at immigration counters will be undertaken immediately, and if required, additional manpower will be deployed.
6. Among other steps, all airlines will be required to keep their counters completely manned, especially during peak hours.
7. Digital display boards showing waiting time at each entry gate and at least one waiting time board at the terminal checkpoint will be put in place.

IGIA has three terminals — T1, T2 and T3. All international flights and some domestic services operate from T3. On an average, it handles around 1.90 lakh passengers and about 1,200 flights daily.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 13 ATRS machines installed on the ground — 11 for passengers + 2 for crew and specially-abled.

This number has been increased to 16 (10 ATRS + 6 conventional X-ray machines) in the last few days. This will be increased further to 17 soon, and subsequently to 20, the officials said.

Over the past few days, passengers have been complaining about long waiting hours at the airport and some also shared pictures of the crowd at the airport on social media.