The Hindu Business Line : New baggage system in Chennai, four other airports soon

Airline passengers travelling from Chennai, Calicut and three others airports around the country will soon not have to stand in line around the pre-check in x-ray baggage machines.

The Airports Authority of India has awarded the contract for supply of seven inline x-ray baggage machines. When the system is in place, a passenger would not have to queue around the pre-check in x-ray baggage machine but can go straight for check-in and bags would be screened automatically.

During the first phase, the system would also be introduced in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Srinagar, while in the second phase it would be introduced in eight other airports, including Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Vizag, Amritsar, Jaipur and Udaipur.

Meanwhile, the AAI has also undertaken the development of Chennai airport, which would have a new integrated modern terminal building with an annual handling capacity of 10 million passengers.

Official sources said that the new terminal would also have the provision to integrate with the existing terminals.

“The integration of the existing terminal with the new terminal would see the overall handling capacity rise to more than 29 million passengers,” officials said.

The AAI will soon sign an agreement with Boeing that would help reduce the distance between aircraft flying over the oceanic airspace, thereby allowing more planes to fly through the area.

“The agreement between the AAI and Boeing has been approved, and would formally be signed shortly,” officials said.