Inadequate facilities at T4 terminal continue to irk air passengers
The mosquito menace and the lack of adequate food and retail outlets have upset some travellers. Others complain that there is not enough signage to reach the terminal and many are not even aware of which are the terminals they have to y out from
AAI ocials say they have taken measures to address the issues at T4. Be it xing the mosquito menace or adding more food outlets, they have made improvements
Vehicles vying with each other to enter the airport, long queues at check-in counters, and security checks were a common sight at the domestic terminal of the Chennai airport owing to the early morning rush.
To give passengers some relief and reduce the congestion, two domestic terminals were envisaged at the airport under the Phase II modernisation project. After a part of the new integrated building was ready and international ight operations were shifted to this building, the old international terminal (T4) was modi ed to handle domestic ight operations as well.
Expansive terminal
Hence, the airport has two domestic terminals: T1 where IndiGo, Akasa, and SpiceJet handle their ights and T4 from where Air India, Alliance Air, and Vistara operate their ights. Though T4 is an expansive terminal and does not handle as many ights as T1, passengers expected that it would be a breeze to use it. But there are a few issues which need to be ironed out, passengers say. Vidyasagar Jagadeesan, a frequent yer, says some of the major issues that irk him is the number of mosquitoes in the terminal and the lack of adequate food and retail outlets. He adds that the authorities have a long way to go before putting the T4 terminal on a par with those at private airports.
Passengers deserve better
“It is such a vast hall so it feels very empty and does not feel like an airport terminal. We should compete with airports like Bengaluru and Hyderabad and step up our standards. Even if there are only a limited number of passengers, unlike the T1 terminal, there should be a plenty of options in food and shop. The passengers ying out of Chennai de nitely deserve better and the authorities need to do something about it at the earliest,” he adds.
K. Karthik, another resident of the city who often ies out of the Chennai airport, says that primarily, there is not enough signage to reach the T4 terminal and still many are not aware of which of the terminals they have to y out from. They have to keep posting on social media the list of airlines that use T1 and T4.
A long walk to car park
“It is a long walk from the terminal to the multi-level car parking or the cab pick-up point. It is tough for passengers, especially senior citizens, to walk when there is rain. While the o©cials say it’s a covered walkway, one small part of it still remains uncovered. To avoid the inconvenience, I climb up with my baggage to the departure hall and then wait for a cab to pick me up. This makes it much more easier,” he adds.
The number of buggies available to transport passengers between the two domestic terminals and the international terminal is far from su©cient, he says. “They should add a lot more buggies which can shuttle passengers every ve or ten minutes between the three terminals. This is because even if a passenger accidentally reaches the wrong terminal, he should be able to quickly get a buggy and not be delayed for his ight,” he says.
Commuters often post about issues they face in this terminal on social media platforms like ◣. Kiran Kumar, a passenger, posted: “@aaichnairport T4 is a nightmare. 2 major airline, but just 3 security lines. heavy queue and completely manual security check in. People are forced to carry trays and stand with trays for 20+ mins. Worst airport @airvistara @JM_Scindia @AAI_O©cial”.
O©cials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) say they have taken measures to address the issues at the T4 terminal. Be it
xing the mosquito menace or adding more food outlets, they have made improvements ever since it was opened.
Periodic inspections
After the launch, more food outlets were gradually added and at present, su©cient options are available at the T4 terminal for the passengers it handles, o©cials say.
“With regard to the mosquito menace, we take the issue seriously, and have been carrying out various activities, including fogging, on the airport premises, and we hardly receive complaints now. We also work in coordination with the authorities of the Airport Health Organisation and conduct periodic inspections,” an o©cial says.
With respect to the people walking from the T4 terminal to the multi-level car parking area, o©cials say they have provided adequate signage and a covered walkway. “Cabs can also pick up passengers near this terminal at a designated spot,” another o©cial says.