New Delhi: The swanky new integrated
Terminal 3 (T3) of the IGI airport here became fully
operational today as all the airlines shifted their
international operations there from the old Terminal 2.
Though Air India`s flight from New York (AI-102) was
supposed to be the first to dock at T3, but it was delayed by
about 30 minutes and the airline`s flight (AI-307) from Tokyo
became the first to arrive at the new terminal.
"AI-102 from JFK New York was scheduled to arrive at 4.45
pm but it was delayed en-route and finally landed at 5.14 pm.
Meanwhile, Air India`s flight from Tokyo (AI-307) arrived at
4.50 pm and docked at T3," an airline official said.
Passengers were briefed about the new terminal, regarding
immigration, baggage recovery and other areas about T3 by the
cabin crew, he said, adding on their arrival, they were
welcomed.
Arriving and departing passengers were happy with the
scale and grandeur of the terminal and said, "It gives us a
feeling of pride. Now we feel that we are leaving or arriving
at India`s capital."
According to sources, operations at the airport like
baggage handling, immigration and customs were working
smoothly.
There were disappointment for the arriving passengers
who had planned to shop from Duty Free, as the shop at arrival
level were not ready while that at the departure had only the
liquor counters.
"The sections dealing with ladies items and others
were not operational at the departure level also," sources at
the airport said.
The domestic operations would begin from August 27, when
three full-service carriers -- Air India, Jet Airways and
Kingfisher -- along with their low cost arms JetLite and
Kingfisher Red shift their operations from T1 and T1D to T3.
Despite airport operator Delhi International Airport
Limited (DIAL) putting up signages and deploying people to
assist the passengers about the shifting of operations from T2
to T3, many claimed that they went to T2 to catch their
flights, as they were not aware about the development.
The construction as well as finishing work at T3 is yet
to be over, as one could see many works going on at the
terminal building at various levels.
The opening of terminal also saw protests from the
drivers of black and yellow taxis. The drivers alleged that
DIAL had not put adequate number of pre-paid booths inside as
well as outside the terminal building.
"We had six counters at old terminal 2, but here DIAL
had put just one, that too, inside the building. Once a
passenger is out, he could not enter again to get a pre-paid
slip. How will the taxi drivers survive?", said Virendra
Kumar, General Secretary of Delhi Airport Taxi Union.
PTI
