Lack of CISF men holds up

Chennai: International flights at the Chennai Airport continue to suffer delays up to an hour because of a shortage of security personnel.
The situation, sources said, had not improved even after a recent meeting between the Airline Operators Committee and Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials.
Around 6.30 am on Monday, passengers of Air India Express, Kingfisher Airlines and Oman Airways picked up an altercation with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel manning two security check gates at the international departure terminal.
Only two counters were being manned to screen as many as 300 passengers. Two more counters were lying unused and the queue stretched past the duty-free shops.
The Kingfisher Airlines flight to Colombo was delayed by half an hour because security checks could not be completed on time. Passengers turned impatient and many of them tried to jump the queue, compounding the situation.
"Open more counters or else we will like to talk to the senior officials," shouted a couple of passengers. The CISF personnel said that they were short of staff and more counters could not be opened.
Airline officials remained mute spectators when the security personnel refused to give preference to their passengers though their flights were getting delayed. The CISF personnel were even heard telling passengers to endure the security check in silence.
The situation on Tuesday was the same.
Such tardy security checks had been delaying international schedules for long. Passengers who get the boarding pass after immigration and customs formalities do not come for security check immediately because they like to relax in the lounge, said an airline official.
22/01/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2009