Chaos expected as Delhi airport's T3 opens
New Delhi: Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3, sixth largest in the world, will start commercial operations on July 28. International flights will start taking off and landing at T3 instead of the old international terminal.
But what few are prepared for are problems that could well be a recipe for chaos, like lost passengers.
Most of the passengers replied in the negative when asked if they knew that all international operations would now be from T3. Even the airport operator agrees that shifting from the old terminal to the new T3 would face some problems.
"We have a large contingency of staff who have been deployed to help provide info to passengers who may go to the wrong terminal," says DIAL's Chief Operating Officer Andrew Harrison.
The problem doesn't end there. According to new guidelines check-in counters of many airlines will now close 45 minutes before take off and not half an hour as it was before. Despite efforts by airlines to inform passengers most are still unaware.
"No I have no clue about the change in timings," a lady passenger says.
To make matters worse people headed to the airport will also have to deal with unprecedented traffic jams.
Till now there is a junction from where traffic going towards domestic airport diverts to one side and that for international continues to go straight. But once T3 is fully operational a major chunk of the traffic too will all be heading in one direction.
"With this existing airport system what is going to happen is when T3 becomes operational we are going to have jams. We are looking at about 200 per cent growth or 300 per cent growth of traffic. Metro will take away 20 but what will happen to the rest 180 per cent. It is going to be on road and its going to congest Delhi," claims road traffic expert Rohit Baluja.
It is a problem that no one paid any attention to before T3 was built and the authorities are beginning to realise only now.
"Road access capacity today is sufficient for traffic that will move to T3. Over the time as that traffic grows we obviously expect enhancement and different means of accessing the airport rather than the access roads we have today," says Harrison.
T3 could be India's swankiest airport but if one wants to fly from here, he or she will have to first brave traffic jams, look for T3 and then get to the counters before they close for the flight. It could be a long journey.
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