Delhi airport sets up special enclosures to accommodate passengers of delayed or cancelled flights

New Delhi: Special enclosures have been set up at the Delhi airport to accommodate passengers who have disembarked from flights that have been delayed for over three hours to allow their faster return to the terminal to board their respective flights.

To reduce the discomfort and waiting time for such passengers to board their respective flights again, they will not be required to go through the normal process for security check ins and the process will be done separately to allow them to return to the Security Hold Area (SHA), according to airport operator DIAL.

The government has relaxed the security protocols at airports to allow passengers of flights delayed by over three hours or canceled due to fog, weather or technical issues to disembark and return to the terminal.

Following the eased norms, DIAL on Monday said it has set up the special enclosures at all the three terminals -- T1, T2 and T3 -- for such passengers that will allow them back inside the terminal concerned.

"Ranging from 250 to 450 square meters, these enclosures will be able to hold between 55 and 120 passengers at a time. They are intended to facilitate security screening, allowing passengers to smoothly re-enter the terminal's Security Hold Area (SHA)," Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a release.

Broadly, SHA is the area after the security checks and before a passenger reaches the boarding gate.

The enclosures will be located at the bus boarding gates and certain aerobridges in T3, the transfer area in T2 and the bus boarding gate in T1.

It will be available for both domestic and international passengers.

According to DIAL, the new arrangement will save passengers from having to undergo the security check through the normal process, wherein after disembarking, passengers are taken to arrivals and processed through domestic or international transfer areas as the case may be before being brought back to the SHA.

"Bringing such passengers directly to the reverse entry point significantly reduces the time taken in the de-boarding and boarding - from approximately 2.30 hours to just a few minutes," it added.

DIAL is also working to provide essential amenities like toilets and vending machines within the enclosures, wherever feasible.

The enclosures would only be utilised as a security processing area after which the passengers would enter the SHA which will give the passengers access to all the facilities available there, the release said.

Only airline staff escorting passengers from stranded flights would be permitted to enter the enclosures for security reasons.

DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said that with the new initiative, it aims to significantly reduce the time taken for the de-boarding and boarding process for passengers of flights affected by fog/weather or technical issues.

CISF personnel will be stationed in the enclosures to screen passengers returning from delayed or stranded flights before they are allowed to join other screened passengers in the SHA.

Additionally, personnel from the Private Security Agency (PSA) will verify the documents of the affected passengers.

DIAL-operated Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is the country's largest airport and handles around 1,400 flight movements daily.