Technical snag causes delay at airport

BANGALORE: International passengers from Singapore were stranded at the airport for two hours on Friday because the conveyor belt broke down.
Passengers of an international airline called this paper on Friday night to say they had to wait for almost two hours to collect their baggage. They claimed that one of the conveyor belts had developed a problem and there was no one to attend to it.Passengers said they came out of the airport after 11.30 pm, even though they had landed at 9.35 pm.
Airport officials acknowledged the problem, but said it was “minor”. “Lufthansa, Air France, Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines land within minutes of each other. You can imagine the amount of baggage,” they said.
The large number of flights and passengers between 9.30 and 10 pm is putting pressure on the conveyor belts. Passengers are unable to collect their baggage early, and airport authorities face problems in releasing baggage quickly, said airport officials. They said the shortage of loaders had led to delayed release of baggage.
On arrival, business class passengers were directed to conveyor belt 1 and economy class passengers to belt 2. A later announcement said all passengers should collect their baggage from belt 1. Shortly after, the passengers were directed to belt 2. After half-an-hour, belt 2 was switched off.
While this was taking place, relatives outside the airport were trying to find out if the flight had landed.
“A snag is understandable. But the authorities should have explained the problem and informed the relatives,” said a passenger.
amit.upadhye@timesgroup.com