IGI battles rush, delays, as flights carrying Haj pilgrims arrive late

New Delhi: The arrival of Haj pilgrims, returning to the Indira Gandhi International Airport after their trip to the Holy Mosque in Saudi Arabia, began on December 2. The rush at the Haj terminal is giving security agencies a tough time this year.
Reason: almost all flights from Saudi Arabia are arriving at least 10 to 12 hours later than the expected time of arrival.
This has led to a lot of inconvenience for the airport authorities, as the connecting domestic flights out of Delhi are being delayed in turn.
“Since a lot of domestic destinations do not have night-landing facility, we have to check and transfer passengers on the tarmac itself to avoid further delays. This is creating manpower-related problems,” a senior airport official said.
Since most domestic destinations do not have direct flights to and from the Saudi kingdom, Hajis arriving at the IGI Airport need to take connecting flights back to their respective cities. Other cities connected by Air India include Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Srinagar.
At least five flights arrive in Delhi each day from Jeddah. While Air India coordinates the Haj flight movement at IGI Airport, Saudi Arabia Airlines and Air India jointly handle flight operations. At least 27,000 pilgrims have flown out of the IGI airport for Haj this year.
07/12/09 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009