Since April, Manoj Bhatnagar, 36, a frequent flier from Mumbai, has been reporting almost 90 minutes early at the Mumbai airport to get his security check done. At the domestic terminal, he is actually required to report 45 minutes before the flight. He is not enjoying it but his misery has company; most other fliers share his inconvenience.
Growing flier traffic and recurring terror alarms have made delays a fact of life for passengers at the Mumbai airport. They have to wait for 20-30 minutes during peak hours just to complete their security screening. Earlier, they spent just about six to seven minutes to get cleared.
“Two weeks ago, I had to take a Jet Airways flight to Bangalore. I had to wait for almost 30 minutes in the queue to get my security check done,” says Bhatnagar.
While Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) authorities and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) do not deny the delays, they say they are not to the extent of 30 minutes. They attribute it to growing passenger traffic.
“In March, the passenger traffic increased by 7.6% globally; at Mumbai it went up by 20%. This is summer vacation time and there is more passenger demand. Because of this, more than 700 flights take off everyday,” said an airport official explaining the delays.
“Moreover, since January, there has been a terror threat almost every week and there’s a bomb hoax everyday. As a result, there are stringent security checks, which takes time,” he added.
In fact, there is a terror alert issued at the Mumbai airport for May 20. “We have got to know that terrorist outfit Harqat-ul-Ansar along with the Indian Mujahideen is going to target vital installations like the Mumbai airport, Delhi metro and the local railway network in the country. So Mumbai airport has been put on a terror alert,” said a police official from Santacruz police station.
When contacted, the spokesperson for MIAL confirmed the delays but also reiterated that it was not as big as 30 minutes. “Due to heavy passenger traffic, there is an average delay of 12-15 minutes instead of the earlier six to seven minutes per person.
We have asked the CISF to speed up the process,” he said. He, too, did not rule out the possibility of the terror alerts contributing to the screening delays. “It could also be that there are terror threats and bomb hoax frequently leading to the delays,” he said.
Jitender Negi, senior commandant, CISF, too insisted that though there were delays, they were not to the tune of 30 minutes.
Comments