Independence Day security, long queues leave flyers a harried lot at Mumbai airport

Heightened security in the wake of Independence Day and a surge in number of of travellers has left passengers at the Mumbai airport a harried lot.

The authorities have now asked passengers to reach the airport at least two hours before the departure, TOI quoted a source as saying.

The travel woes at the one of the largest aviation hubs in the country began early on Thursday.

“There was a queue to enter the airport and another for check-in. At around 4.30am, I checked in for the 5.35am flight to Nagpur. But it took so long to clear security, the aircraft door had closed by the time I reached the boarding gate. Over a dozen passengers missed the flight,” said Kushal Lohakare told TOI.

She along with some other passengers had to book another flight at 9.40am. “But we didn’t get our check-in bags on time, and missed the second flight as well. I lost Rs 13,200 over these two tickets,” she said.

“Total mess at Mumbai T2 new security check. Snaking queues, all departures are merged. So someone with 30 minutes to board a domestic flight is stuck behind someone with an hour-plus going to London. Chaos, queue cutting, fighting was the scene today,” a passenger, Divya Sharma, wrote on microblogging site Twitter.

On August 9, the airport handle had tweeted warning about the weekend rush and asking passengers to keep more time in hand.