Rain, powercuts hold up IGI

New Delhi: Chaos was the name of the game at IGI Airport’s terminal 1-B on Monday morning as inclement weather poured holes through the ongoing expansion work at the arrival terminal.
With power tripping at intervals throughout the day, most x-ray machines, baggage belts and check-in counters remained dysfunctional for a large part of the day. As a result, close to 80 per cent flights were running late till Monday evening.
“The problem started at 11 am when power went off first; even the back-up was not working,” a Jetlite official said. “We had to issue handwritten boarding passes as our computer back-up had failed.”
The problem lasted till 1 pm, though the power lines kept trippin intermittently even after that.
“Of three x-ray machines only one was working for most of the day in our security hold area,” a Jet Airways official said. Terminal 1-B has two security hold areas: Jet and Jetlite use one; the other is allotted to other domestic airlines.
With x-ray machines working, there were long queues at the security hold areas. Several flights had to be held back as check-in and security clearance took a long time.
Airlines, though, were told by DIAL, which is in charge of upgrade work at the airport, that the powercut was a result of ongoing construction work at terminal 1-B.
20/05/08 K Sobhana/Delhi Newsline

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Categories: Airports May 2008