The Government is working to reduce the time that international cargo and passengers spend at airports. The Government is keen to not only ensure that the time spent in clearing international air cargo gets reduced to two days from five days at present but also see whether international air travelers can be asked to check-in not earlier than two hours before the flight departure.

Decreasing Congestion

This was decided at an inter-ministerial meeting called to look at measures that need to be taken to reduce dwell time at airports. The IMG is headed by the Secretary of Civil Aviation and has representation from Ministry of Finance and Commerce and the Planning Commission.

“The introduction of these measures would not only help decrease congestion but also bring about international standards at airports.

There should be little problem in achieving these goals as most of the paper work needed to be completed for clearing cargo is not only available on-line but can also be filed through the internet,” a Government official said.

At present the dwell time at airports varies.

Customs Clearance

While on an average it takes 129.66 hours or 5.4 days for a cargo package to be cleared at Chennai airport, in Delhi it takes about 160 hours or about 6.6 days to get final customs clearance and leave the airport. There are, however, some cargo consignments particularly those belonging to the IT and auto industry that are cleared within a day of arrival, official sources said.