Inadequate facilities at T4 terminal continue to irk air passengers

Chennai airport's T4 domestic terminal faces challenges, but authorities are working to improve facilities and passenger experience.

Vehicles vying with each other to enter the airport, long queues at check-in counters, and security checks were a common sight at the domestic terminal of the Chennai airport owing to the early morning rush.

To give passengers some relief and reduce the congestion, two domestic terminals were envisaged at the airport under the Phase II modernisation project. After a part of the new integrated building was ready and international flight operations were shifted to this building, the old international terminal (T4) was modified to handle domestic flight operations as well.

Hence, the airport has two domestic terminals: T1 where IndiGo, Akasa, and SpiceJet handle their flights and T4 from where Air India, Alliance Air, and Vistara operate their flights. Though T4 is an expansive terminal and does not handle as many flights as T1, passengers expected that it would be a breeze to use it. But there are a few issues which need to be ironed out, passengers say.

Vidyasagar Jagadeesan, a frequent flyer says, some of the major issues that irk him is the number of mosquitoes in the terminal and the lack of adequate food and retail outlets. He adds that the authorities have a long way to go in making the T4 terminal on a par with private airports.

“It is such a vast hall so it feels very empty and does not feel like an airport terminal. We should compete with airports like Bengaluru and Hyderabad and step up our standards. Even if there are only a limited number of passengers, unlike the T1 terminal, there should be a plenty of options in food and shop. The passengers flying out of Chennai definitely deserve better and the authorities need to do something about it at the earliest,” he adds.

K. Karthik, another resident of the city who often flies out of the Chennai airport, says that primarily, there is not enough signage to reach the T4 terminal and still many are not aware of which of the terminals they have to fly out of. They have to keep posting on social media the list of airlines that use T1 and T4.

“It is a long walk from the terminal to the multi-level car parking or the cab pick-up point. It is tough for passengers, especially senior citizens, to walk when there is rain. While the officials say it’s a covered walkway, one small part of it still remains uncovered. To avoid the inconvenience, I climb up with my baggage to the departure hall and then wait for a cab to pick me up. This makes it much more easier,” he adds.