Chennai: Eleven months after the inauguration of the new terminals at Chennai airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is now planning to build an additional ramp to facilitate baggage movement at the new international terminal.
While the AAI is gearing up to open the new terminal for arrival operations in January 2014, airline companies have raised concerns on the viability of just one ramp for both arrival and departure operations.
In order to deal with this, the authorities have decided to construct another ramp to manage arrival and departure baggage movements separately. “The second ramp concept is in the planning stage with the design department and the feasibility study is also on. Soon, we will go for a tender and the whole process might take 10 months,” said Chennai airport AGM (PR) Harbhajan Singh.
According to Singh, till the second one is ready, the airport authorities will have controlled operations on the single ramp. “We will deploy additional manpower to manage two-way movement of tractors attached to baggage trolleys on the lone ramp,” he added.
Further, city airport officials are also looking to provide value-added services in the form of electromagnetic chargers for all types of mobile phones and introduce wireless Internet (WiFi) facility at the new international terminal soon. “We already have WiFi in the new domestic terminal. It will be extended to the international terminal in another 10 days,” said a senior airport official.
Furthermore, the AAI has awarded the 10-year master concessionaire contract to set up food and beverage outlets in the city airport to Mumbai-based Travel Food Services (TFS). TFS’ southern region corporate relations head P.V. Swamy said the TFS-managed clipper lounge in the new international terminal and two snack outlets each in the new domestic and international terminals would start functioning from January 1, 2014.
