Passengers arriving at Chennai airport can heave a sigh of relief as the entry of vehicles has once again been permitted outside the arrival hall of domestic terminal.
In July 2014, the entry of vehicles outside the arrival hall of the domestic terminal was banned due to security reasons and also because there was traffic congestion as some vehicles remained parked for several hours. Only VIP vehicles could access the area.
Airport director Deepak Shastri said, “We had been in discussion with police for a while to permit the entry of vehicles; finally, an arrangement was reached and now we hope passengers do not face any problem.”
Ever since the ban, passengers, including senior citizens and the differently abled, arriving at the domestic terminal faced difficulty in walking up till the parking lot as vehicles were prohibited from picking them from the gate of the hall.
Though vehicle entry has been permitted now, they will not be allowed to wait outside the hall; they will have to pick up passengers within 10 minutes of entering the zone and exit the airport premises, he added. As cars enter, they are issued an entry slip that allows them to spend 10 minutes in the arrival pick up area. Passengers may call for the vehicle once they are ready to come out of the airport, and thus be able to make the 10-minute deadline, officials explained.
Also, in the service road outside the arrival hall, barricades have been put up creating a partition to limit the number of vehicles and some security personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth movement of vehicles.
