Operate from Terminal-2: SC to IndiGo

The Supreme Court on Friday directed IndiGo to move its inter-metro flights to Terminal 2, turning down the request by the budget airline carrier to continue its domestic operations from Terminal 1. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has given the airline time till March 20 to make the shift.

IndiGo’s promoter, Interglobe Aviation Limited, had challenged two

decisions passed by the Delhi High Court — by a single judge Bench on December 20, 2017, and a Division Bench on February 13, 2018 — both asking the airline to shift one-third of its flights from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 as an interim arrangement till such time as the Terminal 1 is renovated.

The DIAL had requested the three top budget airlines —IndiGo, Spicejet and GoAir to shift the bulk of its flights connecting the Capital with Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

While GoAir made a complete shift to Terminal 2, IndiGo was obstinate claiming that it was practically impossible to operate flights from three terminals in one city. The airline operates international flights from Terminal 3. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi representing IndiGo argued that such a shift will create hassles for its passengers who have to travel between terminals for their connecting flights.

The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice DY Chandrachud said, “We are not inclined to interfere with the order of the High Court. But considering the fact that the airline will require some time to partly shift its operations, the Bench allowed the airline time till March 3 to submit a list of flights it proposed to move to Terminal 2. The DIAL will take a decision in a week and thereafter, the airline will begin functional from Terminal 2 within the next ten days.

DIAL, represented by senior advocate Parag Tripathi, pointed out that the shifting is a temporary measure in order to facilitate the development and expansion of T-1. The objective is to double the terminal’s handling capacity from the present 20 million passengers per annum (mppa) to up to 40 mppa. This exercise is expected to take close to 42 months.

However, IndiGo claimed that with GoAir having shifted, T-1 could handle upto 17 mppa, sufficient to handle its domestic operations. But DIAL claimed that in the financial year 2017-18, IndiGo’s estimated traffic is at 18.1 mppa. Even with the exit of GoAir, the traffic at T-1 would still be close to 23 mppa, that is in excess of the maximum handling capacity of 20 mppa.

The Bench added, “If we start entering into these matters of policy, there is no end to where we will land. And certainly, we do not know where your flights will land.” DIAL informed Court that the shifting must complete by March 20. On calculation of the time extended by the SC, the deadline would practically arrive around the same date.