Delhi airport T2 to be shut temporarily from April; plans runway upgradation, more slot banks

New Delhi: Delhi airport operator DIAL on Wednesday said Terminal 2 (T2) is expected to be shut down for four to five months starting from April and one of the runways will also be closed for upgradation during this period.

After renovation works, T1 is expected to be open for operations after March 15, subject to various approvals.

In addition, as part of larger efforts to develop an aviation hub, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) aims to have four slot banks by the end of the next fiscal. Generally, slot banks are referred to as particular time windows for efficient flight connections.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital has three terminals -- T1, T2 and T3 -- and the total annual passenger handling capacity is around 109 million. It handles around 1,300 flights daily.

DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said the works at T1 are expected to be completed by March 15 and will be open for flights after getting requisite approvals.

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.

At 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.

Jaipuriar said efforts are progressing well on making India an aviation hub and the airport targets to have four slot banks by the end of the next financial year.

"Best (aviation) hubs are where you can come in and two or two-and-a-half hours take the connecting flight. It is called a slot bank... you have an arrival bank and a departure bank. Delhi used to have two banks and we have moved to the third bank. Good quality hubs have anywhere between four to six banks," he said.

The DIAL chief said the target is to have four banks at the end of next financial year. "That means my early departure and arrival capacity has to go up."

Increased I to I (International to International) capacity and fourth runway will also help in developing the aviation hub.