Thaindian News

By Rohit Vaid
New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Come July, passengers flying out of the upcoming terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport won’t have to encounter serpentine queues at the check-in counters, thanks to a new system that also promises huge savings for airlines.

Called the common use passenger processing system, or Cupps, it does away with the need for airlines to have dedicated check-in counters at airports, enabling them to add or remove them depending on the rush at any given time.

The airport authorities, too, can manage the traffic better by ensuring that passengers are spread out, finish their check-in formalities fast and get their boarding pases at the soonest possible time, officials explained.

“Cupps will allow better coordination among agencies that handle passenger traffic. The passengers will particularly benefit as check-ins and security clearance will be faster and less obtrusive,” said an official of Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).

“As many as 173 Cupps counters are coming up at Terminal 3 (T-3). These will be common to domestic and international airlines. This apart, 20 remote Cupps counters will also be deployed for passengers arriving by the airport Metro line,” the official told IANS.

“We want to ensure that by the time the Commonwealth Games start (in October), the new terminal is tried and tested to give guests the most pleasant experience.”

How does Cupps operate? The system has a common software-and-hardware driven platform, which integrates all the information at the airport, such as the airline’s reservation system, the expected time of flight departures, and the capacity at waiting lounges.

Thus, airport authorities can make optimal use of the space available without causing any discomfort to pasengers, while airlines will have huge cost advantage.

The carriers can now do away with the need to deploy their own dedicated counters at the airport, and instead share this infrastructure with other airlines as part of the larger arrangement made available by the airport developer.

This apart, the counters no longer need to lie idle as they can be deployed for multiple carriers, since they have different schedules. They can also go for a common contractor for ground- and baggage-handling services.

The official said that in addition to the Cupps counters, the new terminal will have 80 aircraft boarding gates, with 240 entry stations. Also, 30 desks would be available at the transit and re-check-in area.

“For international passengers around 90 desks would facilitate immigration procedures, which will be faster again. The terminal will also feature as many as 78 aerobridges, from which passengers can embark or disembark.”

Spread over 5.2 million sq ft, the new terminal will be one of the largest in the world and feature 63 elevators, 34 escalators, 92 automatic walkways and 78 aerobridges, which can also serve the Airbus A-380’s upper deck.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)