New Delhi: Flying today is inconceivable without body scans, x-rayed baggage, conveyor belts, aerobridges and interminable waits. But a crop of budget airports India is planning to build in small towns will transport flyers to a more graceful era where you could walk into an airport minutes before a flight, check in your own luggage, and walk on to the tarmac to board a turboprop.
The Airports Authority of India has a plan for 50 airports across 11 states that includes barbed wire, not boundary walls; people handling baggage, and not machines; a shorter check-in time to keep lounges small; and local cops instead of the more expensive Central Industrial Security Force. And, no food kiosks.
"Traffic is unlikely to be heavy at these airports. The purpose is to create the minimum facilities for aircraft to operate without compromising on safety and security," said an official, confirming the plans had been frozen.
Air-conditioning-hungry steel-and-glass structures are out. The terminals will be lean so that passengers can directly step out of the airport on arrival. Clean drinking water and toilets figure in the plans, though.
13/08/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
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The Airports Authority of India has a plan for 50 airports across 11 states that includes barbed wire, not boundary walls; people handling baggage, and not machines; a shorter check-in time to keep lounges small; and local cops instead of the more expensive Central Industrial Security Force. And, no food kiosks.
"Traffic is unlikely to be heavy at these airports. The purpose is to create the minimum facilities for aircraft to operate without compromising on safety and security," said an official, confirming the plans had been frozen.
Air-conditioning-hungry steel-and-glass structures are out. The terminals will be lean so that passengers can directly step out of the airport on arrival. Clean drinking water and toilets figure in the plans, though.
13/08/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
