According to a top official on Friday, the Delhi airport is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic passenger traffic level this fiscal year with over 70 million, and by the end of February next year, it hopes to have finished expanding Terminal 1, increasing the domestic air passenger handling capacity by 23 million.
Details on The T2 terminal at Delhi Airport will temporarily become an international terminal
Moreover, Terminal 2 (T2) would temporarily become an international terminal, according to CEO of airport operator DIAL Videh Kumar Jaipuriar.
T2 can now handle 15 million passengers and is used for domestic travel.
The largest airport in the nation, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the nation’s capital, is run by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
The airport currently has three terminals: T1, T2, and T3. The operator will decide whether to add a fourth terminal based on traffic patterns. Only T3 operates internationally as of right now.
Jaipuriar stated that there has been a positive resurgence in passenger traffic in an interview with PTI here.
We’re going to wind up (having) more passenger traffic this (financial) year than we did before the Covid pandemic. Prior to COVID, we had a maximum of 69.3 million passengers. We generated 65.3 million in revenue the previous fiscal year, and we’ll surpass 70 million this one,” he declared.
More than 52 million of the passengers will be traveling domestically, and another 18 million will be traveling abroad.
The existing capacity levels at the airport are predicated on DIAL’s 2016 master plan, which it will also review.
It is anticipated that T1’s extension would be finished by the end of February of next year. The terminal would be able to handle 40 million passengers after it is finished, up from 17 million now, according to Jaipuriar.
Then, in T1 and T3, our total domestic capacity will be 40 million and 25 million, respectively. The international passenger handling capacity at T3 is approximately 20 million, he said, adding that the domestic capacity at T2 is now 15 million.
According to his forecasts, “we are very comfortable with domestic capacity but we are going to be tight in two years from now (when it comes to) international capacity” .
T4 is intended to be developed with a capacity of about 40 million as part of the 2016 master plan. He pointed out that T4 is supposed to be entirely domestic, T3 to be totally turned into international, and T1 to be entirely domestic in the master plan.
The objective, according to the DIAL chief, is to temporarily transform T2 from a domestic terminal to an international terminal.
Jaipuriar stated that DIAL still needs to conduct stakeholder engagements regarding T2 conversion.
“If everything gets finalised… by June-July next year, we should be able to convert T2 into international (terminal),” he stated.
The modification will reduce T2’s passenger handling capacity to about 7-9 million, as more processing space is needed for international operations.
The airport’s foreign passenger flow is predicted to reach 18 million in the current fiscal year, returning it to its pre-Covid level.
Every day, the airport processes over 1,500 airplane movements.
In addition, DIAL, a group headed by GMR Group, is implementing a number of environmental initiatives with the goal of becoming an airport with net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
