Damaged trolleys at Chennai airport irk passengers

Chennai airport passengers face challenges with defective trolley wheels, but improvements are underway by AAI officials.

For a passenger hurriedly heading inside the terminal at Chennai airport, the chances of picking a trolley with defective wheels are relatively high. While there are adequate trolleys at Chennai airport, a number of them can’t be used as the wheels are wobbly or damaged.

Harinee, an air passenger who recently flew out of Chennai to Paris, said it is particularly difficult for international passengers as most of them are in need of a trolley. “The first few trolleys I took couldn’t be used as the wheels were faulty. Finally even the one the I ended up taking had to be pushed quite a bit. With a hand baggage and two check-in baggage, it was pretty tough to move the trolley,” she added. 

Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said they are weeding out the trolleys with damaged wheels. “Since August 2024, 7,750 passenger baggage trolley wheels have been replaced. Another 2,709 trolley wheels are expected to be received by January first week and will be changed subsequently. We will also float tenders to procure another 26,000 trolley wheels and these will be in place by March, 2025,” an official said. 

Some of the passengers have also complained about the issue on ‘X’. 

Manikandaraj. S, an air passenger said, “@aaichnairport, please repair or replace those damaged trolleys as well. Most of them are damaged. Hyderabad has introduced some smart trolleys and we are still here having damaged, old style trolleys!!”

Ashwin K Rao, another passenger, posted: “Dear @aaichnairport, most of the luggage trolleys are defective especially wheels. Even in International terminal. Not sure if this is among the first set of impression one must get as soon as people land in Chennai airport.”