NEW DELHI: India’s busiest airport, Delhi’s IGIA, is gearing up for over 50% enhancement in international traffic by adding a new pier in terminal 3 along with a marginal rise in domestic capacity through internal changes in T1 within the next four years. Together these changes will take the hub’s capacity from current 10.4 crore passenger per annum (CPA) spread over the all domestic T1 (4 CPA) and T2 (1.4 CPA) and domestic-cum-international T3 (5 CPA, with 3 crore being international and 2 crore domestic) to over 12.5 CPA by early 2030.Thanks to an all new international pier E with a capacity of 1.6 CPA, T3 will be able to handle 6.6 CPA with 4.6 crore being international and 2 crore domestic. Without any changes to T1 structure, Delhi International Airport Ltd plans to add some check-in and security counters to increase its capacity to 4.5 CPA.T2 will continue as it is for some years before its is demolished to make way for a bigger T4 sometime in the next decade depending on demand as Delhi NCR has recently got its secondary airport in Greater Noida that is struggling to get flights and passenger footfalls in the shadow of big brother IGIA.The GMR Group-backed DIAL shared details of the 10-year master plan which is being finalised with stakeholders at a consultation held on Aug 16 at the nearby Radisson Hotel. This plan has to be submitted to the aviation ministry this month, which will then seek comments from govt agencies and is expected to clear the same with changes, if any emerge from its consultations, by next March. DIAL will then begin the execution that will take about three years from when work begins. Planning has to be done once every decade to prepare for contemporary travel trends.“DIAL informed us that the new international pier E at T3 could cost about Rs 2,000 crore while T1 changes could cost about Rs 100 crore. While IGIA has more than enough domestic capacity at almost 8 CPA,” said people who attended the meeting.
Widening roads leading to and from the airport
Given the increase in road traffic this will bring along with by then one of India’s biggest malls opening in a hugely expanded Aerocity, the Delhi got had asked RITES to see the how the same could handled. RITES is learnt to have submitted that report to PWD. The original plan was to have a Y-shaped flyover between T1 and T3 to do away with a red light and have free-flowing traffic on the crossing where motorists coming from Dhaula Kuan/Vasant Vihar side go straight for T1 and turn left for T3. And also to double the road width right upto T3, including doubling the under-runway tunnel.
Airside transfer system ready
DIAL has completed arrangements for airside transfers of passengers between T1 and T3 since last last month and is now awaiting Bureau of Civil Aviation Security clearance to begin doing so. It has procured six low floor Volvo buses with baggage compartment for the purpose which will be brought to the airport as soon as it gets the nod.