Passengers may leave the airport and return to board, if their flight delays

Passengers may leave the airport and return to board the aircraft, if the flight has been delayed. It was proposed by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). They have also suggested changes to protocol that would speed up the number of checks that a traveller has to go through while re-entering the airport.

The proposal came up in a meeting between DIAL and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of India (BCAS), who sets rules for security arrangements in airports across the country. Currently the proposal is under consideration of BCAS.

Current rules allow for a passenger to leave the airport and re-enter, but the process takes long and the passenger needs to be escorted by airline officials till they are handed over to security.

“In cases where a flight has been indefinitely delayed or cancelled, we allow passengers to exit the terminal on directions of the airline. In such cases the passenger leaves the airport with his luggage. If the passenger has completed security check-in and needs to exit and then return, a new boarding pass is issued and airline decides on the luggage,” said Hemendra Singh, an assistant inspector general of the Central Industrial Security Force.

The replacement of the complicated formalities will allow passengers to head out into the city or even home in cases when flights are delayed for long.

The proposal also suggests restructuring the exit process and removing the need for a new boarding pass for passengers who want to leave and return.

The main concern of implementing the proposal is security, and it was suggested to have an option for separate entry for the returning passengers, since their baggage would already been with the airline. This would avoid delay as in the normal check-in process.

If the proposal is implemented, it will be available for both domestic as well as the international flyers. However, a foreign passenger whose visa is expiring the same day or those with single-entry visas will not be able to avail the facility, said the official.