CHENNAI: Bringing huge relief to air passengers for moving from the international and domestic terminals to the Metro station, the Airport Authority of India has set up 602-metre-long walkalators the at airport here.The passengers will also have self-check-in counters at the airport Metro station from April 14.The walkalators set up between the airport and the Metro station were inaugurated by Chief Secretary Girija Vaidhyanathan in the presence of Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey on Sunday.
Speaking to presspersons, Choubey said the walkaltor connected the domestic and international terminals with the Metro station.
“The 12 walklators of 30 metres each have been provided in a stretch of 602 metres. The project cost for phase II works is approximately Rs 40 crore,” Choubey added.In addition to this facility, the official sources said the air passengers would also have check-in counters at the Metro station soon.
“Two self check-in counters are also provided at the mezzanine-level and the connecting tube is equipped with flight information display system (FIDS) for conveying necessary information to the passengers. The facility will be opened for public by April 14,” said an official note.
Usually, after landing at the airport, passengers walk out, looking for taxis or autos for even boarding Chennai Metro train. But thanks to the newly-opened walkalators, they will soon be linked from the airport to the Metro station, which would connect them to destinations across the city.So far, the Chennai Metro rail commuters heading to the airport have used either lift or stairs to get down and walk down to the airport or use buggy cars operated between station and terminals at an interval of 15 minutes.
“Complaints from passengers of non-availability of buggy cars and confusion over moving from one facility to other will now completely end,” added the official note.