The arrival hall of the new international terminal, which remained unutilised for four years, may finally be put to use in about two months, especially for Hajj pilgrims.
While the arrival and departure halls of the new domestic terminal and the departure hall of the new international terminal have been in use, the arrival operations of international terminal continue in the old terminal.
Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said they plan to open the arrival hall during August and September when the Hajj pilgrims will be travelling to Mecca. There will be a total of 12 departure and nine arrival flights this year, specially for Hajj pilgrims, officials said.
Arrangements have been made to make use of the hall for both departures and arrivals, officials added.
“Since the departure and arrival halls are connected, the hall will facilitate handling both departure and arrival operations. We regularly carry out maintenance of the arrival hall though it has not been functional so far. We thought this will help in both effectively handling the Hajj pilgrims and putting the hall to use,” an official said.
It is not clear if the arrival hall will continue to be used after these flights. The hall had not been unused owing to a lack of sufficient manpower for immigration and customs procedures.
The phase I modernisation of Chennai airport started in 2008 and the terminals were opened five years later after a long delay. The plan to start phase II modernisation has started and is likely to begin by early next year.
