Delhi Airport To Get Rid Of "Smelly" Brown Carpet After Passenger Tweets To Jayant Sinha

It has been more than eight years since the Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 was set up with the brown carpet flooring. After a divisive public debate on carpet aesthetics and the problems that people are facing because of it, the carpet is set to be removed from the national capital’s Terminal 3 airport. The carpet will be replaced with a new hard floor, said a spokesperson for Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Thursday.

This move came after many passengers complained about the discomfort caused by the carpet. The passengers said that pulling heavy trolley bags on the carpet was difficult as the wheels would keep getting stuck in the rug. The carpet extends from beyond the retail area to aerobridges in both the domestic and international areas of T3.

According to the Hindustan Times, the DIAL officials gave some more reasons for the carpets to be removed. They pointed out that the passengers are complaining about the slow movement of luggage and security officials complained about difficulties in walking the dog squad for bomb detection. There were a few other complaints against the brown-beige carpet relating to its colour and pattern.

The officials further said that the visitors regularly posted their complaints on social media, and some of them even wrote to DIAL and to the Union civil aviation ministry.

A passenger, Suyash Gupta, on August 18, tweeted that Delhi airport was in need of a massive makeover and all passengers were of the opinion that the rug needed to go. He further added that the rug was smelling.

@jayantsinha @DelhiAirport #T3 at Delhi needs massive makeover. Almost all passengers want the dirty rugs to go. Please, let us not fall prey to a sunk investment fallacy. It is very inconvenient and now, stinkingly smelly also, to walk to the boarding gates.

— Suyash Gupta (@suyashgupta) August 18, 2018

However, on August 18, one complaint elicited a reply from the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, directing the Delhi airport to follow up on the complaints.

@DelhiAirport please follow up https://t.co/59wlielgMh

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) August 18, 2018

The DIAL authorities said that they had initiated the process of replacing the existing carpet with hard flooring along the piers, in a phased manner. “We have chosen a solution which is designed for heavy passenger loads, as observed in airports. Post completion, this will enhance the overall passenger experience, especially while dragging strollers in between travellators. This work is likely to start before the end of October,” said the officials, reported The Times Of India.

The Terminal-3 is spread across 5.4 million sq ft. Eight years ago, the terminal was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Earlier, DIAL won the Hermes Platinum award in Social media campaign category.

The Logical Indian take

According to the reports, Delhi airport handled 65.6 million passengers in 2017-18, of which about 40 million use T3. The significance of an airport is that it is the first thing a person sees when they visit a new country or a city. As we all know that first impressions matter, it is should always be our goal to keep airports clean and pretty, especially when it is the nation’s capital. The Logical Indian community appreciates the fact that passenger’s opinions have been taken into consideration and we hope to see new changes soon.

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