Mangaluru International Airport, in a passenger-centric initiative, has operationalised two additional passenger boarding bridges or aerobridges. With this, the total number of such bridges at the airport has gone up to six.
This new facility gives the airline the much-needed operational flexibility to use it, especially during monsoon when shifting passengers from the plane on the apron to the terminal and vice-versa from the open bay, poses a challenge.
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Attached to the new integrated terminal building, these aerobridges also enable the airport to optimally utilise the 11 parking stands available on the apron. While six of these stands are connected to the terminal with aerobridges, the rest are open bays.
The airport operationalised the new aerobridges in consultation with the stakeholders that include the airline and the airport security group of CISF to ensure a seamless experience for the passengers.
The move to put in use these aerobridges, both for domestic and international flight movements, will ensure that the passengers are not exposed to the vagaries of nature while boarding or alighting from a plane, the spokesperson said.
The aerobridges can be used with narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320, A321 or Boeing 737-800 that the airline operating to this airport utilise for domestic and international operations to this coastal city in Karnataka.
The airport has been using aerobridges since 2010 and has steadily gone on to increase their numbers to the current six.