Passengers sweat it out at IGI as AC malfunctions

Passengers had a tough time on Thursday in the domestic terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport as they suffered a sweaty ordeal after the facility’s air-conditioning system malfunctioned. The air-conditioning system of Terminal I-D got damaged accidentally due to construction work of the Delhi Metro.

The temperature was recorded at nearly 37° Celsius during the day, coupled with a humidity level of 82 per cent. The airport’s 1-D domestic terminal, which is used by IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir commercial airlines, experiences heavy traffic, with around 30,000 people flying in and out every day.

The incident was reported at around 3 pm when a portion of the pipe that supplies water to the cooling system was damaged during the construction work for the upcoming Metro station’s entry and exit points at the airport.

Split air-conditioners, blowers and exhaust fans were being used in the terminal to help the passengers waiting for their flights in the terminal.

“Due to construction work by the DMRC, the HVAC chilled water supply line (air-conditioning) of Terminal 1-D has got damaged on Thursday. This affected the cooling capacity of a portion of the terminal. While the repair work for this line is on, the airport operator has switched on the split air-conditioners, blowers & exhaust fans to minimise inconvenience to the passengers,” a DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited) spokesperson said.

Many passengers took to Twitter to vent their anger and one passenger even compared the situation the terminal to a “sauna bath.”

“Delhi airport terminal 1D is like 1000s of ppl put in steam bath with no exhaust!! Needs urgent attn,” a Twitter user, Parth, tweeted. Another post by Sushil Trivedi read, “Terminal 1 Delhi airport AC not working. Swelter-ing hot since many hours.”

The Delhi Airport authorities said they had deployed extra manpower, distributed complementary water bottles and requested airlines for early boarding of the passengers.