First day at Mumbai T2 sees some delays

But airlines say baggage delays have reduced

On the T2 terminal’s first day of operations on Wednesday at the airport here, bags on the first arrival of an Air India flight from Singapore were put on the carousel in six minutes. But passengers who arrived at night had to wait for two-four hours to get their luggage because of a shortage of Customs officials and some airlines’ failure to follow the procedures for handling baggage.

A Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) spokesperson said there have been no delays since Wednesday night. Airlines’ officials, too, said delays in baggage reclaim had reduced. There have been no delays at immigration counters either.

The problem on the first night of operations was twofold. First, at the new terminal, bags of arriving passengers are screened by customs officials before being put on the carousel. Also, MIAL has told airlines it will not allow  pallets (portable platforms holding bags) inside the baggage area and use containers to transport bags. However, a few airlines continued to use pallets.

“As a result of this, bags had to be removed from the pallets in the apron area and put in a container and carried inside the terminal. This increased the work for loaders, causing delays. MIAL has been instructing airlines on this issue for over a year,” said an airport source.

Second, there weren’t enough Customs officials were not present to man the X-ray machines at the carousel, leading to bags piling up.

A media report said Customs blamed lack of proper air-conditioning and ventilation in the area where the X-ray machine was installed. That problem has now been sorted, the report said.