The city airport has won half the battle against fog-related delays only to lose the fight on another flank — bottlenecks at the security check-in counters.

“Fog delays have been reduced to half this winter, but flights are frequently taking off half an hour behind schedule because of congestion at security points,” said an airport official.

Two additional security hold areas have been set up in the domestic terminal (taking the number to three) to ease congestion, but that is too little too late.

“Long queues at frisking booths are delaying flights and forcing passengers to rush to the aircraft after the formalities are over, often leading to belongings being left behind or misplaced,” said an official.

City-based businessman Aninda Sil got a taste of the congestion last week while catching a Mumbai-bound Kingfisher flight in the morning. Sil got his boarding pass within a few minutes of arrival at the airline’s check-in counter. “But it took me an hour to enter the security hold area. When the formalities were finally over, I had to run to the aircraft,” recalled Sil.

Such delays are maximum in the peak morning and evening hours and officials fear the situation will only worsen when the summer rush starts in April.

“There was severe congestion every morning and evening in January and February, which was also a peak season. We are fearing a similar situation in April,” said an official of Airlines Operators’ Committee of Calcutta airport.

“We have requested the airport authorities to reduce the bottleneck at the earliest,” he added.

The airlines and the airport authorities are engaged in a blame game for the long queues and the subsequent delay in take-offs.

The airlines allege that the frisking booths are being manned by a skeletal staff. “Slow checking results in queues that start from the security counter gates and extend up to the airline counters,” said an official of a private airline. He demanded that more frisking booths be set up in the first-floor security hold area.

Airport officials, on their part, held the airlines responsible for the congestion. “There is one security hold area on the ground floor and two on the first floor. But the airlines, for their convenience, tend to use the ground-floor area only.

“This results in disproportionate distribution of passengers and the lengthening of queues,” said an airport official.

He claimed that the number of Central Industrial Security Force personnel who conduct the frisking has been increased.

Sources said lack of aerobridges — they are often shut for upkeep which takes weeks — force the airlines to opt for the ground-floor security hold area.