The Hindu 14.08.2009
Walkalator comes to Chennai airport
P. Oppili
— Photo: A. Muralitharan
SMOOTH MOVE: K. Natarajan, Airport Director (left) and A. Malairamu, General Manager (Engineering), AAI, on the walkalator at the Chennai airport on Thursday.
CHENNAI: A walkalator covering a distance of 50 metres in the corridor connecting the international and domestic terminals will become operational at the Chennai airport from August 15. It is the first of its kind in the country. The conveyor belt that transports people connects aerobridges: passengers use it to reach the aircraft.
K. Natarajan, Airport Director, who inspected the work on Thursday, said the total length of the walkalator would be 150 metres on each side. Once it is fully installed, passengers could comfortably walk along the corridor with their baggage from one terminal to the other. The walkalator would cover Bays 28, 29 and 30. Work has been completed between Bays 29 and 30 in both directions.
The facility has been installed at a cost of Rs 4.18 crore. Work began in January 2008 with the aim of completing it in 15 months, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said. The remaining portion of the work would be completed by the end of September. By that time, the corridor connecting the domestic and international terminals would be ready, said the AAI authorities.
Since an aerobridge is erected near Bay 29, the walkalator would not be provided in this section, where passengers have to manually haul the luggage. Even the newly built airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad, maintained by private companies, do not have such a facility, AAI authorities added.
