Add-ons boon at Calcutta airport

Calcutta: A string of steps promises to end the chaos and congestion at Calcutta airport’s domestic terminal.
The traffic-handling capacity of the terminal has gone up recently, with the addition of check-in counters, X-ray machines, over 1,000 new trolleys and an entrance. According to a survey by the Airports Authority of India, the acquisitions have increased the terminal’s traffic-handling capacity by nearly 40 per cent.
“Several other measures will be taken by early next year, improving things further,” said airport director V.K. Monga.
The canopy work is expected to be complete early next year. It spans 2,650 sq metres — from one end of the terminal to the other — and will expand the lounge area.
By January, the conveyor belts will have X-rays built into them to scan the registered baggage of passengers.After the addition of 18 check-in counters over the past two months, the number of counters now stands at 46.
Extension of the secondary runway by 440 metres and a fifth taxiing bay between the primary and secondary runways will also speed up flight operation.
The secondary runway, once it is extended, will have Category I Instrumental Landing System (ILS). Trolleys are the latest addition to the airport infrastructure. There were 1,400 trolleys in the terminal but a large number of them were not usable. The 1,100 trolleys recently acquired have brakes. Eight hundred more trolleys will be purchased by January.
26/11/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Nov 2007