Delhi airport Terminal 2 to be shut for 4-5 months from April; runway upgrade also to be taken up   

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

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.

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

T2 is expected to be shut down temporarily in April for four-five months, he said, adding that the capacity of around 15 million at T2 would 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.

"The average international load is around 67,000 to 68,000 per day… If you multiply that with 365, it comes close to 24 million. The rated capacity for 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-five years as per the airlines' projections," he said.

At present, T1 has an annual passenger capacity of 40 million, T2 has 15 million and the remaining is at T3.

Jaipuriar said T3 had been designed for international capacity of 34 million and now 45 million passengers were being handled there.

"T2 to be shut for four-five months. During this period, one of our runways is going to be non-operational because ILS (Instrument Landing System) upgrade will be done. 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.