New Kolkata airport facility to help maintain Covid protocol

KOLKATA: Fears of social distancing protocol violations inside the Kolkata airport terminal will be allayed once the new transfer facility for domestic transit passengers is commissioned in phases from Thursday, airport officials said.
Since the spike in passenger volume at Kolkata airport following the partial lifting of flight ban from six cities from September-beginning, passengers have taken to social media and complained about overcrowding inside the terminal building.Though it is adquately large to ensure the minimum 6ft distance between passengers and airport or airline staff, the crowding happened at the entrance and security check where long queues are noticed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when the flight count shoots up by nearly 30%.
“From Thursday, transit passengers on arrival at Kolkata airport will be able to move directly into the departure security hold area after being frisked at a dedicated security check portal. This will ease congestion at the departure level entance to the terminal and the security check there as they will no longer require to exit and re-enter the terminal or use the security check facility at the departure level. At least 1,500 passengers travelling in our airline will be benefited,” said an IndiGo official.
Developed at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore, airport officials said the 24,000-sq ft transfer facility will be open to passengers in phases. “As per the current SOP, Thursday is a lean day in terms of passenger traffic when direct flights from six cities are not allowed to land at the airport. We will start the facility with a few flights and over the next few days, we will keep adding more passengers from multiple flights using this facility,” said a senior airport official.