Under pressure to open the new terminals, the Airports Authority of India has asked Bhadra International to rent out battery-operated tugs at lower rates. It has also started modifying the surface of the ramps that lead into the basement baggage handling area of the new terminals.
Tiles on a ramp have been removed to make it a coarse concrete surface while works are on to relay the second ramp at the domestic terminal. The surface ramps of the international terminal are also being readied.
The move comes after trials showed that baggage tugs slipped while driving down the tiled surface of ramps. Battery-operated tugs on Tuesday drove down and pulled four tons of load comfortably along the coarse surface of the ramp into the basement of the domestic terminal.
13/03/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India
