After a long wait, several stops, starts and delays, Chennai finally has brand new domestic and international terminals at its airport.
Sleek, stylish and designed to be user-friendly, the terminals are set to welcome their first set of passengers sometime next month.
A passenger travelling domestically can enter the airport and within just 15 minutes, board her flight. Likewise, it may take her less than 10 minutes to exit the airport after disembarking from a flight, says Gurpreet S. Shah, an associate principal architect of Creative Group, the firm that prepared the terminals’ design.
“When a passenger enters the airport, she checks-in, goes through security procedure and then waits in the hold room. From the check-in point to the hold room, it will be possible to take just 10 minutes and then, if the flight leaves in the next five minutes, you don’t have to spend more than 15 minutes at the airport,” he said.
Similarly, when passengers arrive, they can reach the baggage collection area in five minutes and exit the terminal in another ten, he added.
International passengers though, will take about half hour, due to extra procedures including customs and immigration, but this is still less than the time it takes at present, Mr. Gurpreet said.
Quick entry and exits will be made possible as the five-level structure boasts a gigantic area with ample check-in counters and gates for both terminals that will ensure smooth movement of passengers, without crowding.
“No passenger will get lost as the terminals are very user-friendly,” Mr. Gurpreet added.
Apart from the usual landscaping with trees and shrubs, the terminals also have a vertical garden — creepers winding around steel structures, rising from the ground to a height of 12 metres — to provide a soothing ambience for tired passengers, Mr. Gurpreet said.
