Custom house agents, who went on a strike on Friday morning protesting inordinate delays in the clearance of imported cargo and documents, called off their protest on Saturday night, and returned to work on Monday morning.
The agents said the delays were caused because of a shortage of manpower at the customs department, and a go-slow strike by workers of Bhadra International, the ground handling agency of Airports Authority of India (AAI).
A.V. Vijayakumar, president of Chennai Custom House Agents Association (CCHAA) said the association had held discussions with the commissioner of customs (airport) and executive director (cargo), AAI on Saturday.
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“They assured us that more officers would be posted and that the workforce issues of Bhadra International would also be sorted out,” he said.
Sources said a customs officer may be posted to monitor the progress of cargo and document clearance, and about five assistant commissioners may also be posted to handle the situation.
On Friday, logistic operators said that at the Air Cargo Complex, there were about 1,000 tonnes of import containers and 300 tonnes of export cargo piled up.
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Sources said it takes five to six days for manufacturers to get imported goods, as against two or three days earlier.
Chennai airport handles 54 cargo flights a week.