New Delhi (Agency): The Delhi airport, India’s largest, announced on Friday the operation of its fourth runway and dual Eastern Cross Taxiways (ECT), enhancing its capacity and efficiency.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Civil Aviation Minister, unveiled the new additions, highlighting the significant growth phase of India’s civil aviation sector. Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), located in Delhi, became the first in the country with four runways and an ECT. It serves approximately 1,500 aircraft movements daily.
The airport’s capacity will further increase with the completion of the fourth runway and terminal expansion. It is expected to handle up to 109 million passengers per annum, a substantial increase from the current 70 million, according to Scindia. He pointed out that with these improvements, Delhi airport will surpass even Atlanta airport in its capabilities.
The new runway will enhance the airport’s ability to accommodate more flights, increasing the current capacity of 1,400 to 1,500 aircraft movements to almost 2,000. This comes at a time when air travel demand is increasing, with domestic air passenger traffic witnessing a near 19% year-on-year rise to approximately 1.25 crore in June.
With the operationalisation of the ECT, taxiing time for planes will be reduced from 20 minutes to approximately 10-12 minutes. This taxiway is unique because it allows aircraft to taxi above while vehicles move below on the road. Additionally, the ECT can simultaneously accommodate two wide-body planes such as the A380 and B 777.
The launch of the fourth runway was marked with a ceremonial water cannon salute to an Air India flight, AI 821, taking off from Delhi to Srinagar.
The IGIA, operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a consortium led by GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd, hosts three terminals and four runways. GM Rao, GMR Group Chairman, echoed the sentiment that these latest enhancements will significantly boost operational efficiency and capacity.
Following the operation of the fourth runway, the third runway will be temporarily closed for maintenance, an official shared last week.
The next goal, according to Scindia, is to make the fourth terminal operational by October, ahead of the peak season. He further emphasized the ongoing consultations with airlines, the Delhi airport, and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to create an international hub between the terminals.
The 2.1-kilometer-long ECT, designed to accommodate wide-body aircraft, will reduce the time passengers spend on the tarmac before take-off and after landing. It will connect the northern and southern airfields on the eastern side of the airport, reducing taxiing distance for an aircraft by seven kilometers.
Significantly, the ECT is projected to save around 350 kilograms of fuel for each aircraft taxiing through the runway from RW 29R to Terminal 1 and vice versa. This amounts to a reduction of nearly 1,114 kg of CO2 emissions per aircraft and an estimated annual reduction of approximately 55,000 tonnes of CO2 from aircraft.
Civil Aviation Minister Scindia also highlighted the remarkable growth of India’s civil aviation sector over the past nine years. The fleet capacity of domestic airlines has risen from 400 planes to 720. The number of airports has doubled to 148, and passenger handling capacity has increased to 14.5 crore from 6 crore. He said that this will further rise to 220.
Air India and IndiGo have together placed orders for 970 planes, reflecting the sector’s bright future. With new airlines like Akasa Air also expanding their capacities, the minister predicts that the fleet size will reach 1,500 planes in the near future. Moreover, Scindia expects the annual passenger handling capacity to rise to nearly 42 crore by 2030 from the current level of 14.5 crore.