Long-awaited air train at Delhi's IGI airport to be ready by 2030

The air train will have six stations and is expected to carry 55,000 passengers in its opening year and up to 85,000 passengers a day “at saturation”,

The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport’s much-awaited Automated People Mover (APM), an air train that will connect Terminals 1 and 3 with Aerocity, the airport metro station, and the cargo area, is expected to be ready by 2030, with construction set to begin next year, airport officials said on Tuesday.

The APM will come up at an estimated cost of ₹3,500 crore. (HT Archive)

“The 7.3km system, planned as part of a larger expansion of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to meet rising passenger demand through 2036,” said Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) chief executive officer (CEO) Pradeep Panicker.

It will have six stations and is expected to carry 55,000 passengers in its opening year and up to 85,000 passengers a day “at saturation”, said Panicker. “The design work for the APM is underway and a consultant has already been appointed. A connectivity team is working on the project, with the design currently under finalisation. A vendor will be brought on board before construction begins. Once work starts, the project is expected to take around 30 months.”

The APM will come up at an estimated cost of ₹3,500 crore.

The airport CEO said that the APM would provide a seamless connection with the existing airport metro network at Aerocity and would be located adjacent to the metro station rather than offering a direct platform-to-platform connection, with the aim of making the transfer as seamless as possible.

To be sure, Aerocity is also expected to have connectivity to other metros including the under construction Golden Line and a proposed RRTS (Sarai Kale Khan to Alwar) expected to have a halt in Aerocity.

air train igi

The Master Plan for 2036 estimates that the airport will handle around 129 million passengers annually after accounting for the impact of the newly opened Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar. The wider Delhi-NCR airport system is projected to handle around 160 million passengers a year by 2036.

“The forecast was prepared using historical traffic trends, economic growth, market analysis and airline fleet orders,” Panicker said, adding that the plan takes into account changes in the regional aviation landscape, including the development of NIA and the opening of Hindon airport for commercial operations.

The Master Plan also includes a series of terminal, airside and road infrastructure expansions to meet demand expected over the next decade. Panicker said passenger demand at Delhi airport is projected to reach 107 million by 2030 and the airport is expected to have the capacity to handle about 121 million passengers by then, providing capacity ahead of projected demand.

The proposed terminal expansion includes a new Pier E at Terminal 3 for domestic passengers, additional check-in counters and an extension of the arrival baggage reclaim belts.

“DIAL also plans to widen the Terminal 3 departure and arrival forecourts, increasing the number of departure drop-off lanes from three to five and arrival pick-up lanes from four to six,” the CEO said.

According to the demand, Terminal 1’s annual capacity is expected to rise from 42 million to 45 million passengers, while Terminal 3’s capacity would increase to 66 million passengers, including 27 million domestic and 39 million international passengers. Terminal 2’s capacity will remain unchanged at 14 million passengers a year.

Delhi airport’s daily aircraft movement capacity will also improve to 2,100 by 2036, from the current approved capacity of 1,570.

“DIAL is already working with airport authorities on measures that could initially take the capacity to around 1,700 movements a day. However, currently, due to various geopolitical issues, the current movements are around 1450 per day,” Panicker said.

“This longer term increase, however, would require changes in procedures, training, airspace management and automation. DIAL is also looking at increasing peak hour capacity from around 92 aircraft movements to about 110,” he said.

The airport chief said that a pedestrian tunnel connecting Terminal 2 to the airport metro station is already under construction and is expected to be completed soon.

The airport’s cargo traffic is projected to reach 1.7 million tonnes annually by 2036. DIAL’s plan includes provisions for expanding cargo-related facilities, while the operator said the existing cargo zone has capacity for about 1.8 million tonnes.