Chennai: After a long construction phase, the expansion project of the Chennai airport, the third busiest in the country, is close to completion. The terminal buildings with their bright lights are a definite improvement on the drab old structures. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the new facilities truly match international airports in efficiency terms. One feature that Chennai airport lacks is good connectivity choices to the city. If you are a passenger flying into this famous aviation destination from Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or even Bangalore, the first rude surprise is the lack of friendly connection options. Remember, nearly 10,500 international and 18,000 domestic passengers pass through the airport daily.
A passenger or visitor who wants to reach the city has no comfortable travel options other than to use personal transport or hire a poorly maintained taxi. It has been a downhill story for a long time now. Three years ago, the MTC, the monopoly city bus operator announced that it was withdrawing all its newly introduced air-conditioned buses operating to the city along two routes from the airport.
Passengers, the transport corporation argued, preferred to use their own vehicles and the bus service was not able to attract even local travellers. Consequently, only an obscure mini-bus service is available now. The reasons for lack of patronage are self-evident, but then, MTC rarely assesses transport demand through a public consultative process.
23/04/12 G Ananthakrishnan/The Hindu
