Air India Begins Using Aerobridge
NAGPUR: Exactly a month after Air Arabia started using one of the two newly commissioned aerobridges at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here, Air India followed suit from Sunday morning. The national carrier started using the facility for its passengers'. Air India operates daily morning flights to Mumbai and Delhi and evening flight to Mumbai.
Airport officials informed that early on Sunday morning, passengers of Air India's Mumbai-Nagpur and Delhi-Nagpur flights were pleasantly surprised to learn that they were among the first domestic passengers to use the aerobridge while disembarking at city airport.
The Times Of India had many times highlighted the reluctance on part of domestic airlines to use the aerobridge that enables passengers to board and leave aircraft directly into terminal building. Taking cognisance of TOI reports that aerobridges at the airport were mere showpieces, Mihan India Ltd (MIL), the company operating the city airport, finally got Air India to start using the facility.
At present five Indian airlines Air India, Jet, Spice Jet, Indigo and Go Air, operate flights to various destinations from Nagpur. Passengers are transported from the airport building to the aircraft by buses. While disembarking, passengers have to walk from the aircraft or use buses. Sources at airport informed that after innumerable delays, MIL finally commissioned one of the two aerobridges on September 12. Rs 2 crore have been invested in two aerobridges. One of them became operational over two months ago but penny-pinching airlines are not using them to avoid paying charges involved.
A senior Air India official said, "we have operators and equipment like pushback tractors, tow bars etc for aerobridge operations. So we have decided to give its benefits to our passengers. On Sunday morning, almost 200 passengers disembarked at Nagpur airport from Delhi and Mumbai while same number of passengers boarded the planes that took off from here using aerobridge."
MIL chief operating officer Abadesh Prasad said that after DGCA approval, MIL had commissioned only aerobridge No. 1 for operations. MIL has started resurfacing of old apron of 64,000 sq metre area and two existing taxiways 'Alpha' and 'Bravo' spread over approximately 18,500 sq metres. During resurfacing work of apron, aircraft will be parked at newly developed bays.
The second aerobridge will be commissioned after resurfacing work and completion of some internal facilities in terminal building, Prasad added.
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