Eight key airports need thousands more in staff
NEW DELHI : India’s swelling airports need thousands of additional security and immigration personnel to avoid the kind of crush witnessed at the beginning of the year, an aviation ministry study found. Just eight airports alone need 3,800 more Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and 440 more immigration staff, found the study, which covered the metro airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, as well as airports in Bagdogra, Indore, Jammu and Srinagar.
The ministry had sought these airports’ inputs on the status of their operation and preparations for the peak travel season as part of the study that began earlier this year. “In line with the shortage identified, the civil aviation ministry and other stakeholders are working to deploy additional manpower by CISF in two phases by October and by November.
The staff reinforcement from the Bureau of Immigration is expected to start by October," a government official aware of the matter said. The study aimed to assess these airports’ requirements ahead of preparing a detailed plan to handle an expected air traffic surge in the December quarter and after.
Snaking queues outside and surging crowds inside airports during the same period last year had sparked numerous complaints, prompting aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to step in to provide respite. Airport executives held multiple rounds of discussions with ministry officials to identify bottlenecks and suggest stop-gap arrangements and submitted their requirements for the strongest quarter for travel, the official cited above said on condition of anonymity.
The study found Delhi international airport, which has a CISF strength of 4,800, needs 1,300 more. It also needs staff to handle an extra 40
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