Centaur hotel to shut down from October 31

Civil aviation ministry has asked to hand over land occupied by 376-room Centaur Hotel at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and two Chefair flight kitchens to Airports Authority of India.

Once considered as landmark, the iconic Centaur hotel of Air India will close operations from October 31 this year, making way for Delhi airport’s expansion.

The airline will now have to look for alternative accommodation for its crew. Staff of the national carrier had been put up at Centaur hotel for years. (centaurhotels.com)

According to an order issued on Monday by Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), a subsidiary of Air India, the civil aviation ministry has asked to hand over the land occupied by 376-room Centaur Hotel at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and two Chefair flight kitchens to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by November 30 this year.

“It has been decided by the competent authority to cease the operations of the Centaur hotel, Delhi airport, by October 31, 2019,” the order said.

The airline will now have to look for alternative accommodation for its crew. Staff of the national carrier had been put up at the hotel for years.

Apart from the hotel, the flight kitchen has a capacity to provide 8,000 meals per day.

The hotel was built for the 1982 Asian Games.