Delhi Airport Sets Sights On Growing International Passenger Volume

EE News Desk Jun 08, 2024

Delhi Airport has a maximum handling capacity of approximately 105 million passengers, with around 22 million allocated for international passengers

As per media reports, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has announced that the airport is planning to boost its international passenger handling capacity by 40 per cent to 50 per cent. This expansion is in response to an increasing number of international airlines seeking to establish connections with India.

Currently, the airport has a maximum capacity of around 105 million passengers, with approximately 22 million of that capacity dedicated to international passengers.

At the CAPA India Aviation Summit in Delhi, Jaipuriar mentioned,“We are running out of international capacity. We are looking at various ways to increase the capacity, and the plan is to increase it by 40 per cent to 50 per cent in six months to one year. We have consultants working to get the best solution in terms of operational as well as passenger convenience and also the airside infrastructure matching with that of the terminal infrastructure.”

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) comprises three terminals: T1, T2, and T3. The expanded Terminal 1 is anticipated to become operational by the end of the month. "We are hoping that sometime during this month itself, T1 will be operational," the CEO stated, noting that all low-cost airlines, including IndiGo, will operate from the expanded T1.

Regarding international flights from T3, the DIAL CEO noted, "We have around 20 per cent of transit or connecting passengers, whether domestic to international or domestic to domestic, and some segments are experiencing faster growth." Last year, the airport handled close to 20 million international passengers.

DIAL, a consortium led by the GMR Group, is developing a 10-year master plan, which will be finalised after discussions with the airlines.

“Looking at the kind of change in dynamics that has happened in the last five to six years, we have advanced our master plan that was otherwise planned in 2026. We are therefore taking inputs from all airlines and planning,” Jaipuriar said, adding that they are open to options such as dedicated terminals for specific airlines or dedicated terminals for international and domestic connections.

By July, the airport is expected to have four fully operational runways, with one side of the fourth runway being CAT III compliant. A CAT III compliant runway allows flights to land even in poor visibility, with a runway visual range of 50m to 200m.

Discussing the enhancement of the airport’s airside capacity, Jaipuriar mentioned that the airport currently accommodates 1,500 slots per day. An airport slot is a permit to use the airport’s infrastructure for take-off or landing at a specific time and date.

He underlined, “There is a potential to increase the slots by 500-600 slots per day. We currently see 84 aircraft movements (departure and arrival) every hour and we see the potential of over 110 aircraft movements in the final stage of our runway optimisation.”

Jaipuriar stated that the airport is in the process of implementing the Airport Operations Centre (APOC) system, which collects data over time to estimate passenger footfall during specific time frames. This system aids in decongesting the airport and allows various airport officials to be better prepared for peak hour rushes.

Additionally, the airport plans to connect passengers internally using automated people mover (APM) systems between Terminals 1 and 3. This initiative aligns with the government’s goal to make Delhi airport an aviation hub. Airport officials have already presented their plan to the government.

“We have done the commercial evaluation of APM. We expect that some funding will be required. We may approach the government for one-time funding support for APM. The infrastructure is owned by the AAI (Airports Authority of India), and we are just the operator 2066,” the DIAL CEO mentioned.