Delhi airport to increase peak runway capacity by 30%
In order to optimise operations and raise peak runway capacity to 110 movements per hour in three years, Delhi Airport is collaborating with the government-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) and an outside consultant, according to Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive officer of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). According to him, the airport plans to enhance its capacity for processing foreign passengers by 40?50% during the next six to twelve months, given the swift growth in both domestic and international transit traffic. The Delhi airport handles more than 100 million passengers annually. About 82% of this capacity is for domestic flights, while the remaining is for international services. The GMR Group-led DIAL runs Delhi International Airport, India's largest, which handles 84 aircraft movements per hour during peak hours. Jaipuriar mentioned at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024 that the airport has four runways and is collaborating with an international consultant, the AAI, to optimise its operations. He stated that they plan to implement a dependent parallel approach initially, followed by an independent parallel approach. He projected that within 2-3 years, the peak runway capacity would increase to about 110 aircraft movements per hour. Regarding slot allocations, Jaipuriar stated that the airport currently offers 1,500 slots per day to airlines, which would increase to more than 2,000 after optimization. He explained that an airport slot is a specific time allotted for an aircraft to land or take off. Additionally, he mentioned that the DIAL is collaborating with the governments of Delhi and Haryana to enhance connectivity between Gurugram and the Delhi airport. He indicated that several projects, including one to establish direct connectivity between Lutyens Delhi and the Delhi airport, have been discussed. Jaipuriar also mentioned that the Delhi airport is implementing an artificial intelligence (AI) engine in the Airport Operations Centre (APOC) to analyse passenger movement flow and notify relevant personnel for immediate adjustments in manpower. As part of its aspiration to become an aviation hub, the airport is constructing a hotel just outside the T3 terminal and is considering establishing another hotel immediately outside the T1 terminal. Currently, 20% of the passenger traffic at the Delhi airport consists of transfer traffic (domestic-to-international and international-to-international). Jaipuriar stated their aim to increase this to 30?35% to facilitate hub development. He also mentioned that about 15% of passengers arriving at the Delhi airport use the metro rail network, and they aim to increase this to 25%. To achieve this, DIAL is collaborating with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to open another baggage check-in facility at the Dwarka metro station. Currently, such facilities exist at New Delhi metro station and Shivaji Stadium metro station. Jaipuriar emphasised the need to increase awareness about these facilities, as only 10% of passengers from the two metro stations utilise them. Regarding the Noida airport, Jaipuriar clarified that the lower VAT alone would not provide a significant advantage, as other tariffs at new airports are generally higher. The master planners working on the airport's expansion plans are incorporating the requirements of IndiGo and Air India, which collectively hold about 85% of the domestic passenger market. When asked about the possibility of a dedicated terminal for a particular airline, Jaipuriar stated that all options remain open, considering that the Delhi airport currently has three terminals.
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