Congestion at Jaipur airport to ease by next yr
The airport authorities are working on a three-pronged strategy to ease congestion at the Jaipur international airport that has seen a steep rise in combined passenger traffic to 4.74 million in 2017-18 from 3.78 million in 2016-17.
The rising passenger traffic has put a severe strain on the operations at terminal 2, the sole terminal that handles both domestic and international passengers. Airport officials said that congestion will ease in the next few months when international traffic is shifted to terminal 1, which is under renovation.
According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), 53,395 international travellers visited Jaipur airport in June 2018.
“We are improving facilities at terminal 2 while the renovation is on at terminal 1, which will become operational for international flights within six months. Then, another terminal will come up (adjoining terminal 2) for which we have appointed a consultant. It will become operational in 2022,” Jaipur airport director JS Balhara said.
In July 2013, international flights from terminal 1 were discontinued and shifted to the then newly-built terminal 2. At that time, the daily passenger traffic, including domestic traffic, was about 6,000 and since then the terminal 1 was being used for movement of cargo flights. At present, terminal 2 handles about 14,000 passengers daily while its capacity is of around 8,000 passengers.
The congestion at terminal 2 results in packed waiting lounges and long queues and delays.
“Terminal 2 is going to get a facelift with improved amenities. We will have three new conveyor belts on the arrival side by November and extra departure gates by March 2019,” Balhara said.
By 2022, the Jaipur airport will have a swanky new terminal, nearly seven times larger than the existing T2 terminal, with all modern amenities. Work for the Rs 1,400 crore project has been awarded and will commence by December 2018.
The project management consultant is Dorsch Consult (India) Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Germany-based Dorsch group. At present, drawings are being prepared and the work is expected to begin by the yearend.
According to AAI figures, the domestic passenger traffic from Jaipur airport was 4.22 million in 2017-18 as compared to 3.33 million in 2016-17, showing a growth of 26.9%. The international passenger traffic during the same period grew by 16.9% with the number climbing to 0.52 million as compared to 0.45 million in 2016-17.
Airport officials attribute the steep rise in passenger traffic to the availability of cheaper flights and increased buying capacity of passengers.
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