The second batch of three aerobridges imported from Indonesia, and meant for the new international terminal at Chennai airport, arrived at the Kolkata sea port on Thursday.
Chennai Airport Director H.S. Suresh said the current shipment carried many aerobridges meant for Kolkata airport, and the three for Chennai airport were sent along with it.
A total of 18 aerobridges will be installed at the integrated domestic and international terminals at the Kolkata airport.
Mr Suresh said: “The three aerobridges are expected to reach Chennai in about 10 days. It will take a minimum of three days to bring the various parts of the aerobridges from the sea port to outside the port. Then they will be transported to Chennai by road, which will take at least six days as the low-bed trailers have to cover 1,730 km from Kolkata to Chennai.”
Tenders floated
Airport sources said tenders had already been floated for beverages and duty-free shops and the last date for submitting tenders is Friday. As far as the inline baggage scanning system is concerned, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) floated a tender last week. The tenders for retail, advertising and the airport operation control centre (AOCC) are yet to be floated.
Two years ago, tenders were floated for the AOCC, but due to a problem, they were cancelled.
The AOCC is the nerve centre of modern terminals constructed by the AAI, manned by various agencies including the airport operator, representatives from Customs, airlines, Immigration, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Central Industrial Security Force.
A lot of work at the new terminal is still incomplete. Though AAI officials claimed that the new terminals would become operational by mid-December this year, sources confirmed that a lot of works was unfinished, and making the terminals operational would not be possible before March next year, provided the tendering formalities for AOCC, retail and advertisement were completed within the next two months.
Keywords: Chennai Airport, aerobridges, international terminal, Indonesia, Airports Authority of India
Logically, the consignment should have reached Chennai first, the
respective aerobridges unloaded and the rest sent to Kolkata. Now road
transport from Kolkata to Chennai is going to cost more.
AAI should also float tenders for a proper parking space in the
airport. Taxis cannot park beyond 2 minutes and suddenly some "parking
lot" assistant comes and charges 60 rupees and if we don't pay, they
harass us.
I think it is a shame that we are forced to import anything technical or manufactured from Indonesia.
Common sense tells to ship to Chennai instead of Kolkata. This increases the time to market and transportation costs. Poor planning.
At this pace of preparation, by the time the upgraded/renovated Chennai airport becomes operational (if it ever becomes operational, that is), it will most probably become inadequate to handle to increased air traffic.
Considering Chennai is a port itself, why were the aerobridges not shipped directly to Chennai ? While there may be a reason; but public would like to know. If the reasons are not satisfactory, clearly, there is a scam somewhere.
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