The Chennai airport, the fourth busiest airport in the country, is all set to face a major security audit by the U.N. body — the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) — next month, officials said.
In case, the ICAO makes adverse remarks, international airlines may tighten security checks at the transit airports.
From policies in place to equipment with regard to security, a four-member team from ICAO will look at every single facility in the airport. “They will see if internationally prescribed norms are being followed, including regulatory framework, passenger and baggage security, training of security personnel, the entire airport operations and security aspects of aircrafts as well,” an official said.
The Airports Authority of India and airline officials started preparing for this audit nearly one month ago and to assess if they could resolve any existing issues.
CCTV cameras
Officials said about 300 CCTV cameras were placed at the cargo area recently; now, they also plan to cover the city side (area outside the terminals of the airport) with another 400 cameras over the next three months. “Some areas inside the terminals have not been covered now, but we will install them in those places as well,” another official said.
In November last year, the ICAO had said it was satisfied with the air safety system put in place by the Director General of Civil Aviation satisfactory after a preliminary audit.
Six years ago, the ICAO placed India among 13 worst performing nations in air safety. In 2014, the U.S. aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration, downgraded India’s ranking in aviation safety.
