AAI gets a wake-up call

Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI), it seems, required a little chiding from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to wake up from its deep slumber over passenger woes at the Chennai airport.
A study report by the CAG earlier this year had pointed out that the AAI had failed in planning the airport expansion works without taking into consideration the convenience of the travellers.
“The report cited how the AAI had no transition plan in place -- a basic requirement for any busy airport. On the contrary, it was only reactive to the problems,” an airport official said.
Immense discomfort was caused due to reduction in the number of entry/exit points, shifting of alighting points, banning public transport and, more importantly, doing away with a dedicated fire service lane.
Before the airport project started, peak hour passenger traffic was about 1,080 with about 900 parking slots. But shortly after that, the peak hour passenger traffic rose to 1,438, reducing parking slots to 484, and thus aggravating the problem. “The CAG officials also noted how there was no logic in removing auto stands and allowing autos and buses up to one km and 1.5 km away, respectively, from the entry point.
31/03/11 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Mar 2011