 "Passengers wait at Terminal 2 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. File image/ Reuters")
DIAL, the Delhi airport operator, said on Wednesday that Terminal 2 (T2) will be closed for four to five months beginning in April, and that one of the runways will also be closed for upgrades during this time.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital includes three terminals (T1, T2, and T3) with a total annual passenger handling capacity of around 109 million.
DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar stated that the work at T1 is scheduled to be finished by March 15 and would be available for flights once the necessary permits are obtained.
T2 is expected to be shut down temporarily in April for four to five months, he said and added that the capacity of around 15 million at T2 will be moved to T1.
With increasing traffic, the airport operator will also be converting a T3 section for international flights. Currently, this section is used for domestic operations.
“Average international load is around 67,000 to 68,000 per day…. If you multiply that with 365, it comes to close to 24 million. The rated capacity for the international terminal T3 is 20 million. In fact, we are sweating the asset to the tune of 20 per cent.
“So, we have come out with the proposal to convert Pier C (section of the airport), which is currently domestic, into international at T3. The international capacity will become 32 million. This will take care (of the capacity) for the next four to five years as per the airlines’ projections,” he said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAt present, T1 has an annual passengers capacity of 40 million, T2 has 15 million and the remaining is at T3.
Jaipuriar said T3 has been designed for international capacity of 34 million and now 45 million passengers are handled there.
“T2 to be shut for four to five months. During this period, one of our runways is going to be non-operational because ILS (Instrument Landing System) upgrade will be happening. We want to do it before the winter season,” he said.
With the upgrade, the runway will be CAT III B compliant, which means flights can operate at low visibility conditions. During the winter season, the airport generally experiences visibility issues due to fog.