Stamping, tagging of hand baggage to end in 7 major airports from April 1

CISF says, this will enhance passenger experience and provide hassle free security environment

Stamping and tagging of the hand baggage of fliers at seven major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, will be done away with from April 1, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said on Thursday.

The other airports which will see the new system of baggage security coming in include the ones in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Cochin and Ahmedabad.

"The system of stamping and putting tags on the hand baggage of fliers will be dispensed with from April 1 at seven airports. We have put in place the required security systems that will help us in ushering in this passenger-friendly move," CISF Director General O P Singh told PTI.

The move, the CISF chief said, will enhance "passenger experience and provide hassle free security environment to them".

The move was earlier announced by the aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), but the CISF wanted to deploy appropriate security infrastructure before such a regime could be ushered in without any compromise on the security aspect at these sensitive facilities.

Singh said his personnel have been updated about the new protocol and that he himself had seen the preparations made in this regard at the Bengaluru airport on Wednesday.