Elevated taxiway at Delhi airport to be completed by December 2022

Desribing it as India’s first ever elevated taxiway, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said 60% work on the facility has been completed.

New Delhi: An elevated cross taxiway that will help cut taxiing time and save fuel at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport will be ready by December 2022, the airport operator said on Wednesday.

Currently, after landing at runway 29/11 or to take-off from there, an aircraft has to cover a distance of about 9km. (AFP file photo)

Desribing it as India’s first ever elevated taxiway, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said 60% work on the facility has been completed. Once the new corridor is commissioned, the taxiing distance for aircrafts at Delhi airport will go down from the current 9km to 2km as the facility will allow planes to go straight towards Terminal 1 from the runway or vice-versa instead of going around runway 11/29.

Currently, after landing at runway 29/11 or to take-off from there, an aircraft has to cover a distance of about 9km.

DIAL officials said cutting taxiing time for aircraft will also help smoothen the movement of flights and reduce inconvenience to the passengers who had to remain seated inside the plans and wait at least 15 minutes to reach the terminal.

Earlier, the project was to be completed by March 2022, however, due to the several interruptions, including the Covid-19 lockdowns last year, the deadline was pushed to December 2022. The new taxiway is part of the ₹9,000-crore phase 3 expansion of the Delhi airport, DIAL officials said.

There are three runways at IGI airport. Runway 09/27, 10/28 and 11/29. Runway 09/27 and 10/28 are on northern side of Terminal 3, close to Terminal 1. Runway 11/29 is near Terminal 3 on southern side. The elevated taxiway will provide quick access to planes landing on Runway 11/29, especially those that land from Dwarka side, and have to go to Terminal 1.

They said by reducing the travel time, the taxiway will also help airlines save 350kg of fuel for each journey and cut 55,000 tonnes of carbon-di-oxide emissions annually, officials said.

The elevated taxiway will allow aircrafts to move between two runways on either side of the main access road to terminal 3, so as to enhance the airside capacity. DIAL officials said that at present, after landing at runway 29/11 or to take off from this runway of IGI airport, an aircraft has to cover a distance of approximately nine Kilometres.

DIAL officials said often flights are delayed as they prefer using the terminal closer to where they are parked. But with the new taxiway, an aircraft at T3 will have to travel only two kilometres to take-off from the other runway. Not just this, using this taxiway, planes will now be able to vacate the runway sooner for the other flights to land, which would make the process smother and faster, they said.

The officials said the new facility will be broad enough to accommodate a wide-body aircraft such as the A-380.

As part of the IGI airport expansion plan, DIAL is carrying out integration of the departure and arrival terminals at T-1, construction of new apron (area where aircraft are parked, refueled and boarded) at T- 1, 2.1-kilometre-long elevated taxiway and modifications at T3. A fourth runway parallel to runway 11/29 on the south side, with a length of 4400 metres, will also be constructed to increase air traffic capacity, DIAL officials said.