Chennai: Birds hang out inside airport departure area

Chennai: On Thursday afternoon, the passengers at Chennai airport were surprised to see two crows and four pigeons in the departure hall of the domestic terminal.

The crows entered the terminal around 3 p.m. through one of the openings in the roof, sources said. At first, passengers were shocked but they did not panic as the birds did no harm. However, since the animals/birds entry into the security area is against the airport laws, the airport officials tried to capture the birds.  

Airport sources said four pigeons have been roaming around the security hold area of the departure in the last one week. Meanwhile, on Thursday two crows also joined them.

In the meantime, passengers posted pictures of the birds on social media and wondered how they had crept into the terminal. An official of Airports Authority of India said, “Initially, the birds hung around the trusses of the security hold area and a few hours later, they moved to no-passenger movement area.

 Asking why the forest officials were not called to secure the birds, an official said the red alert notice that has been viewed following the terror threat after the Pulwama attacks on March is still on. He said outsiders are not allowed inside the security hold area.

This is not the first time that animals or birds have entered the airport premises. In February 2018, two monkeys had entered the departure hall of the international airport in Chennai triggering panic among passengers and airport officials. Only after a few hours of struggle did forest officials manage to secure the monkeys and then handed them over to forest officials.