Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Wednesday, said the rush at the Delhi airport was "unexpected" and it will take at least a few days for things to normalise.
Earlier in the day, the minister, in a LinkedIn post said all agencies have swung into action in the last 24-36 hours to mitigate congestion at all major airports.
In recent weeks, air passengers have been complaining about long waiting hours at airports, especially at Terminal 3 (T3) of Delhi airport.
The civil aviation minister said that necessary actions taken to reduce congestion at the Delhi airport have resulted in "least wait time" for boarding at checkpoints and entry gates.
According to NDTV, the minister said nobody had expected such a rush for the winter festival vacations. He pointed out that it is the responsibility of the airport operator to ensure that passengers have a seamless experience.
He said he held a meeting with airport authorities about reducing congestion and suggested various measures, including the need to have a crowd management system at entrance gates and install digital boards above gates to let the passengers know how much time the queue will take. "Things will improve in the next 7-10 days as these new measures are also implemented fully. We need to do this in coordination with all airlines too and hence the implementation will take a few days," NDTV quoted him as saying.
Earlier in the day, speaking about the steps taken to reduce the rush at the Delhi airport, the minister said in the LinkedIn post: "Congestion at entry points and check-in counters at T3 has eased. Four additional X-ray machines have been added at the Security Hold Area; display boards showing wait time have come up. Deployment of CISF manpower has already kick-started, and will progressively increase in the next few days."
He said these steps will be emulated at the Bengaluru and Mumbai airports as well.
"In the last 24-36 hours, all agencies have swung into action to mitigate congestion at every checkpoint at all major airports," he said.
At Bengaluru airport, two additional X-ray machines were operationalised on Wednesday.
"It is heartening to see domestic passenger traffic surpass pre-Covid levels, clocking a new record each day. The load factors have touched 95 per cent-plus. Indeed, airport operators, airlines, ground handlers, ATCOs, immigration, security the entire circuit is fortunate to be operating at such a time, and only wishes to see this trajectory move onwards and upwards," Scindia said.
India houses the third largest aviation market, and with that, "we must also strive to be the best service providers," Scindia said.
Further, the minister said that a lot is being done today and much more will be done to brace for the future.
"A strong Rs 98,000 crore capex for airports is in the pipeline. Civil aviation is expanding its reach beyond the metros. There is a lot of potential, and the unleashing of animal spirits has only begun.
"Till then, I am certain that the sector shall continue to ride on a steep learning curve, and emerge stronger from these challenges," the minister said.
—With PTI inputs
