Chennai: Passengers arriving at Terminal 1 of Chennai airport or relatives waiting for them are finding themselves without a basic amenity outside the exit: a restroom. They either have to take the lift to the departure level, walk to the Aerohub mall, or head to another terminal to access toilets.Despite Terminal 1 handling a large share of domestic arrivals, with around 30,000 daily footfalls, there are no restrooms directly outside the exit.
Aishvarya A P, a passenger, recalled her experience of searching for a restroom outside Terminal 1 recently when she urgently needed to use the facility, as she was on her period. “Restaurant staff told me I would have to go further outside to use one, and once you exit the terminal, re-entry is not allowed. In situations like this, it becomes especially difficult for women,” she said.Shri Sakthi, a frequent flyer, said she prefers using restrooms inside the terminal for safety reasons, but added that an external facility could help if properly maintained. “I am a diabetes patient, so access to restrooms is important. I usually carry nappies with me in case of emergencies,” she said. She added that any restroom outside T1 must ensure hygiene and proper maintenance, suggesting that airports could consider technologies such as self-sanitising lavatories used in countries such as Japan.S P Louis, a prepaid taxi driver, said the absence of a restroom near the T1 arrivals exit creates difficulties during emergencies. “For both men and women, it becomes a difficult situation. If we need to use a restroom urgently, we have to take the lift to the departures level and walk from there, which is a long process,” he said.Though the plaza constructed near the T1 arrival terminal has toilets, the delay in its inauguration renders the facility useless for now. Airport authority officials maintained that the plaza will soon be inaugurated and added that additional toilets could not be planned due to ongoing redevelopment work.
