New Delhi: Those flying out of
IGI Airport on Thursday passed through the
security
check without getting their hand baggage stamped by CISF personnel.
This was a break from a 24-year practice, though an experimental one. For a week, CISF would stop the otherwise time-consuming procedure at six other airports as well. A successful outcome would result in the doing away of the stamping of boarding passes as well.
Senior officials said the ridding of this stamping exercise would save three to five minutes per check-in. Other airports joining this pilot project are Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
“The step has been taken by CISF in consultation with
Bureau of Civil Aviation Security
. It is a conscious decision and will be on trial for a week. The main objective is to improve check-in procedures and cut time wherever possible. During peak hours, queueing for stamping is a major problem. If the experiment concludes successfully, we may introduce the same for stamping of the boarding passes also,” said Manjit Singh, deputy commandant and PRO, CISF.
This has been possible because there’s better electronic surveillance available at the major airports today. “We have better surveillance and a robust CCTV network to keep a tight vigil on every movement inside a terminal. Earlier, the force was dependent more on manual frisking and screening of baggage. Stamped baggage was considered safe,” Singh added.
The PRO also said that footfall at IGI was going up every year, but CISF had to handle the traffic with its limited manpower. The personnel deployed on stamping duty could be used for passenger profiling, Singh added.
Senior officers said that CISF has also suggested every flyer be allowed to carry a single cabin baggage. Different airlines have different rules for this at present.
CISF is also bumping up its staff strength from 1,45,000 to 1,80,000. Around 28,000 personnel are deployed at 59 airports.