PATNA, June 9 -- Baggage-related issues are delaying passengers from exiting the arrival hall of the new integrated terminal building at the Jayprakash Narayan International (JPNI) airport here that became operational on June 3, said officials, who dismissed them as "teething problems". Passengers have alleged that they have had to wait for up to 40 minutes, especially during busy hours, when a bunch of flights land. Such a scenario happens at least three times a day between 10.20am and 11.20am; 1.10pm and 2.20pm and 9pm and 10pm, when five flights are scheduled to arrive within a time slot of one hour at the Patna airport, which presently caters to 48 inbound flights in a day. Passengers also alleged last-minute change of conveyor belt, adding to their confusion in collecting one's registered baggage. "Things are a little mismanaged, as we were informed that we will get the luggage on belt number 3, but found my baggage on belt number 2," said Aman Kamalia, who reached Patna at 10.50pm by an IndiGo (6E 6120) flight from Bengaluru on June 6. Kumud Kumar Jha, who arrived by an IndiGo flight (6E 6451) from Bengaluru said he had to wait for his baggage for around 45 minutes after the arrival of his flight at 7.25pm on Saturday. "It took around 30 minutes for me to get my registered bag, but the wheelchair of my daughter, which, too, I had booked through baggage, was delayed, and I had to wait for around 45 minutes for it before a woman executive of the IndiGo made several calls and helped me get it," said Jha, who superannuated from the LIC. "The system of arrival of registered baggage on the carousel has changed after the introduction of the in-line baggage system (ILBS) in the new terminal building, which is taking some time," said an official. "Earlier, a tractor trolley would get registered baggage offloaded from an aircraft and directly place them on the conveyor belt, which would not take more than 10 minutes after the arrival of an aircraft. Now, once the baggage is offloaded from an aircraft, the tractor trolley takes them to the basement of the terminal building, where there is a baggage make-up area (BMA) and a baggage break-up area (BBA). The baggage is sorted and sent up through a conveyor belt before getting on the carousel for passengers to collect. This takes some time, maybe 10-15 minutes," the officer explained. The officer further said that the airlines have to allot conveyor belts that is done through a computerised system for which airlines have been provided unique login ID and password. "In case of a wrong input, the baggage goes through a different conveyor belt than the one announced inside an aircraft, leading to last-minute confusion among passengers at the arrival hall. Since the ILBS system is new, the airlines are facing teething problems but are gradually coping with it," he added. "There are four feeder conveyors in the new integrated terminal building. Given that we now have a bigger terminal, the feeder conveyor length is longer than the earlier one. The feeder length of conveyor belt 4 is the shortest while that of 3 is longer, but still it should not take more than 5 minutes," said another official familiar with the matter. As per a circular by the civil aviation ministry, the first arriving bag should reach within 10 minutes and the last bag within 30 minutes after arrival of an aircraft. The delay in processing registered baggage, also leads to traffic snarlup at the exit of the arrival, where vehicles are stuck in a jam. On Sunday, air conditioning issues were also reported near the departure VIP lounge, check-in area and post-security hold area. JD(U) MLC Sanjay Singh, who flew to Jaipur on June 3, when the new terminal building became operational, and returned to Patna on June 6, said: "I got my bag in 10-15 minutes. However, issues related to baggage, etc. are at best teething problems, which I'm sure the officials will overcome soon."...