If you are planning to travel within the country by air this festive season, be prepared for some confusion over your terminal. Three low-cost airlines will shift some of their operations to the newly renovated Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here from October 1 onwards.
This was said on the sidelines of a presentation on the formal unveiling of the IGI master plan on Tuesday, which aims to make the airport one of the swankiest in the world by 2034.
The temporary shift of operations to T2 to start expansion of T1 is the first step in this regard.
Passenger footfall
As per the plan, domestic carriers operating at existing domestic Terminal 1D have been asked to shift a third of their operations to T2.
T1 has been stressed due to passenger footfall exceeding its capacity for some time.
With domestic flights already operating from two separate terminals (T-1D and T3), there is often confusion among passengers despite terminals being indicated on some e-tickets. There are fears that shifting of operations will add to the chaos. The airlines have also raised viability and feasibility issues. However, the government is learnt to have made it clear that they will have to shift operations. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a major stakeholder, has also said that the sooner the operations are split, the better it will be. The airlines have until August 31 to raise objections.
Walkalators
The plan, announced by DIAL CEO I. Prabhakara Rao, includes inter-terminal walkalators for passenger movement and Delhi Metro connectivity between terminals. To address immediate concerns about passengers being shifted from one terminal to another or from Aerocity, DIAL said feeder buses will be arranged from Metro stations besides additional transit infrastructure.
Renovated at a cost of more than ₹100 crore, T2 missed its fourth deadline in February 2017 to be made operational.
Mr. Rao said once the master plan is implemented, departure terminal T-1D and arrival terminal T1-C will be merged and expanded to accommodate 40 million passengers per annum.
Robust growth
“In view of robust growth in passenger traffic and upcoming airport expansion works, DIAL has revamped and is recommissioning T2. We have asked airlines operating from T1 to partly shift operations to T2 from October. T3 and T2 will cater to the growing traffic in the next three to four years, by which time T1 expansion project will be completed,” said Mr. Rao.