Chennai: For those who have not visited other privately maintained airports in the country, the massive chrome and glass structure of Chennai airport might look awe-inspiring. In reality, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has just spent public money to construct two new terminals which are in no way better than the old buildings. Further, after having built such swanky terminals, the move to lease them to private hands has added fuel to the fire.
“In the case of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, airports were built or expanded under build, operate and transfer model (BOT) by private operators. They invested money to construct new buildings. But in case of Chennai, AAI has spent the money to build and we are not sure what model they are looking at to lease out to a private player” quipped Air Passengers’ Association of India (APAI) secretary Hiren Shah.
Shah pointed out that the structure is definitely modern but then AAI is not maintaining it properly. “It appears they have not designed it suitably for passengers’ use. They have not thought out the process well,” he said, adding that passengers are forced to walk long distances inside the terminal.
20/05/13 Deccan Chronicle
