India: Delhi airport to double capacity, have dedicated terminals for airlines

Delhi airport is planning to increase its flyer capacity from 69 million to about 140 million in eight years, a study conducted by UK-based air traffic management firm NATS said.

It will also be the first Indian airport to have dedicated space for two major airline groups: Tata-owned Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India, Indigo.

The passenger capacity will be increased through the optimal utilisation of four runways. “We are moving towards having dedicated terminals for big airlines,” Videsh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, Delhi International Airport Ltd, told a newspaper.

According to him, optimal utilisation of four runways will require air traffic management techniques to safely handle more planes by reducing their separation.

Delhi airport is the busiest in India. It is followed by Mumbai (45 million passengers), Bangalore (32 million), Chennai and Kolkata (22 million each) and Hyderabad (21 million).

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the civil aviation minister, said that the government has a target of starting 220 new airports by 2025. "Earlier only big cities had airports,” he pointed out. “Today that has changed completely. This is the reason why the civil aviation industry has become a key element of India's economy. The amount of employment generated in the industry is massive.”

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