The capacity of flight-handling at Delhi Airport can be increased by 50 per cent in the next three years as…
Delhi Airport (PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)
The capacity of flight-handling at Delhi Airport can be increased by 50 per cent in the next three years as per studies conducted by NATS, UK's leading provider of air traffic control services. It has said the airport can handle 95 air movements against the present 67 air movements per hour.
With Terminal 1 functioning beyond its capacity at present, the ministry has decided to shift all domestic airlines to Terminal 2 for the time being. In the mean time, Terminal 1 is all set to be reconfigured with the addition of more departure gates. By adding more departure gates, T1 will be able to handle up to 30 million passengers.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said there is a balance between airside capacity and terminal side capacity. “But, terminal side capacity will need to be increased with time as the number of flights increases,” said Sinha. He said NATS is projecting an increase of terminal capacity by 30 million passengers from the current 60 million passengers.
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Sinha also said a new terminal, T4, can be constructed and T3 can be expanded. At the same time, a new construction will replace Terminal 2. "T2 may be razed down to construct the new building of Terminal 2 as soon as all the domestic airlines shift again to T1," said Sinha.
A decision has also been taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to form a Flight Operations Committee (FOC) which will be headed by the Delhi Airport. FOC will deliberate on addition of slots for flights in each schedule at the Delhi Airport. Sinha said at least 10 per cent more flights is expected in the winter schedule.
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