NEW DELHI: Indira Gandhi International Airport will witness a flurry of activity over the next few months with four major projects being launched simultaneously. First, the ongoing restoration work at Terminal 1 will be completed by March 15 and, after getting security clearances, the expanded terminal with a capacity to handle four crore passengers annually will fully open by April. Terminal 2 will then close for repairs. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) will begin work on converting a domestic pier at T3 for international flights. And then the main runway, 28/10, will be shut at the Dwarka end for upgrading to CAT IIIB, which will enable planes to land even in dense fog from that side too. The latter three projects are expected to take up to five months and be completed before winter.
T1 reopening and T3 pier conversion
“We are seeing almost 67,000 international travellers daily at T3, the international terminal. This translates to about 2.4 crore passengers annually (CPA). T3’s international capacity is 2CPA but it currently handles 20% more than that,” said DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar on Wednesday. “That’s why one domestic pier at T3 is being converted for international use. This will take 4-5 months and raise T3’s international capacity to about 3.2CPA. The pier being converted will continue handling domestic flights during this period except the last month before conversion to allow on site work,”
The number of immigration counters will be increased to handle the additional travellers. A portion of the domestic security check setup will be used for Pier C international passengers.
A part of T1 hasn’t been used after a pier collapsed last summer, killing a person. The restoration and strengthening are under way. Once T1 starts functioning at its expanded domestic capacity of 4CPA by April-May, the 1.5CPA traffic currently passing through T2 will be directed there. A couple of months later, T1 will also get the 1CPA domestic traffic diverted from T3’s converted Pier C.
The number of transfer passengers between domestic and international flights handled by T1 and T3, 7km apart, will increase significantly. With the proposed air train still four years away, DIAL will increase the number of buses plying between the two terminals. “Apart from DTC, there will be other concessionaires operating buses. Passengers taking a connecting flight on the same airline or group will have their check-in bags transferred airside and won’t need to take them on the bus. There will be bus-waiting lounges at both the terminals where they can get the coupon to board the transfer bus,” explained Jaipuriar.
T2 closure
DIAL is closing the 1986-era T2 for repairs. “We will be strengthening the apron, laying new flooring, giving the terminal new washrooms and boarding bridges. This will cost around Rs 80 crore,” the CEO said. DIAL’s original plan was to demolish T2 to make way for a bigger T4. But that plan was deferred since Jewar airport will open this summer and will affect the IGIA footfall. The airport operator decided, therefore, to keep using T2 after extending the life of IGIA’s oldest — and arguably its strongest — terminal. Jewar’s impact on IGIA will decide when T2 will be demolished to erect T4.
Runway 28 closure
The main warhorse runway at IGIA is a blessing for flyers during the foggy winters. The two runways (29 L & 29R) on the Shivji statue side witness more fog than those towards Dwarka (28 and 27). “The Dwarka end of runway 28 isn’t CAT III B. The instrument landing system there is being upgraded, after which both ends of the runway will allow landings in low visibility,” said Jaipuriar.
