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For several months, a group of people would queue at check-in counters counters at Mumbai airport’s T2 terminal every Tuesday, hand over their baggage, complete the immigration and security process and head to the aircraft. None of them were really heading anywhere, as there was no aircraft outside the terminal. This was just a test at the upcoming terminal.
The new terminal will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday. Before Singh’s visit, the airport has stopped issuing security passes to workers.
The plan was to open it for operations on the next Wednesday but sources said that was unlikely because of pending work. The new date is is expected to be announced on Friday. The GVK group-run Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) remains tightlipped about the launch date.
The transition from one terminal to another is a complex exercise and MIAL is hoping for a glitch-free T2 opening. Under ORAT or operational readiness activation and transition, a series of readiness trials, familiarisation exercises and stakeholder meetings have been done, apart from setting up a control room.
T2’s baggage handling is an upgrade over the old terminal’s, with a single automated sorting system and each check-in counter linked to each departure carousel to ensure flexibility in use of departure check at counters.
"Trials underway each Tuesday have covered all the points from the check-in process to boarding. Simultaneous check-in and boarding was executed to give a feel of real operations. The trials were carried to build confidence of airlines,” said an airline executive. Security trials have also been carried out since April, involving the airport staff screening baggage.
As part of the readiness trials, around 2,000 employees were trained to use the new systems and processes at the terminal. Familiarisation trips were held for around 14,000 employees working at the airport. Another task was integration of 53 systems, activation of airlines counters and setting-up of a back office for information technology systems.
Initially only international operations will be shifted to the new terminal. Domestic operations will move to T2 a year later. The four-level terminal is spread over four lakh square feet and can handle 40 million passengers a year, 10 million more than the current capacity. It has 188 check-in counters, 132 immigration counters (up from 78), 52 boarding bridges (up from 20), two lakh square feet of retail area, 10 baggage carousels (can be increased to 14) and a parking area that can accommodate 5,000 cars.
