Calcutta: The Kolkata Airport The authorities have approved the new Mothers Arrival with Toddlers at the airport of Calcutta from other cities, when they converted an old and empty office space into a Childcare room on Arrival area of the airport on Wednesday evening.
Mothers arriving at Kolkata airport with their young children have been demanding for years, to no avail, a baby changing room where they can breastfeed and change their babies while waiting at the baggage carousel for their luggage. The issue has been raised time and again by passengers and has been extremely embarrassing for airport and airline staff who have been confronted with such a situation. However, the authorities at Kolkata airport have not responded to these demands until recently.
“It was indeed a matter of utmost importance and when we realised this, we converted an office space that was recently vacated by a medical unit into a child care room,” said Kolkata Airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria, who took over as the new director two months ago.
Kolkata airport’s integrated passenger terminal, which opened 11 years ago, has five childcare rooms in the upper departure area with jet bridges and another in the boarding area for buses changing to the planes parked in remote bays. But there was no room for young children and mothers arriving at the airport after a flight until Wednesday.
“There was an urgent need for a room near the baggage carousels, which would have a table for changing the children, along with a wash basin, a couple of chairs and a sofa. In a terminal the size of Kolkata airport, there were enough dead spaces where such rooms could have easily been created much earlier. But lack of will and sensitivity to the needs of passengers meant that such demands were repeatedly ignored. We are glad that the authorities have finally realised this,” said an airline ground staff member, who had to tell several mothers that there is no childcare facility in the arrivals area of the airport.
We have also recently published the following articles
Passengers faced significant delays on Saturday due to severe flooding on VIP Road and Jessore Road and disruptions to DigiYatra’s check-in system at the airport. Passengers experienced traffic jams and journeys took up to 45 minutes for short distances. Despite the chaos, flight operations remained largely unaffected.
Passengers at Chennai airport faced challenges after the taxi pickup point was shifted to a parking area. A dispute between the prepaid taxi union and non-union taxi operators created an uproar. Moreover, disagreements within the taxi union over financial allegations disrupted operations. The election of new office bearers was postponed, leading to operational delays.
A 57-year-old woman, Virginia Christine Vinton, was found dead in aircraft at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Rescue workers discovered her in a baggage hold area. Since she was not an airport employee, it is unclear how she got in. Police are investigating the incident and are reviewing surveillance footage that shows her entering the area at 2:27 a.m.
