No stamping, tagging of hand baggage at 7 major airports from 1 April

Major airports across the country, including Mumbai and Delhi, have decided to do away with the stamping and tagging of hand baggage of fliers effective 1 April, the CISF said on Thursday.

Besides, other major airports, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Cochin and Ahmedabad will be introducing the new system of baggage security from 1 April.

"The system of stamping and putting tags on the hand baggage of fliers will be dispensed with from April 1 at seven airports. We have put in place the required security systems that will help us in ushering in this passenger-friendly move," PTI quoted CISF director general O P Singh as saying.

The move, the CISF chief said, will enhance "passenger experience and provide hassle free security environment to them".

Although the aviation security regulator, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), had earlier proposed to do away with the practice of stamping hand baggage, the Central Industrial Security Force wanted to deploy appropriate security infrastructure before doing away with baggage checking.

Singh said CISF personnel have been updated about the new protocol and that he himself had seen the preparations made in this regard at the Bengaluru airport on Wednesday.