Close domestic terminal, move flights to T3, AAI tells govt

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants the domestic terminal, better known as Terminal 1D, of the city’s IGI airport to be “discontinued” and all operations moved to T3 that handles all international as well as some local flights.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants the domestic terminal, better known as Terminal 1D, of the city’s IGI airport to be “discontinued” and all operations moved to T3 that handles all international as well as some local flights.

File-photo-of-Delhi-airport-AP-Photo

Terminal 1D was not part of the Indira Gandhi International airport’s privatisation master plan nor had its construction been approved, the country’s largest state-owned airport operator said in an internal note shared with the aviation ministry. The note, seen by HT, was also highly critical of lack of facilities, including aerobridges, at the terminal that handles about 14 million passengers annually.

1D was not “envisaged to be a terminal as per the operation, management and development agreement (OMDA) or master plan”, said AAI, which owns a 26% stake in Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), the consortium that operates the airport. The terminal had come up in the area marked for a cargo terminal in the master plan, the note said.

DIAL said it had not received any communication from AAI or aviation ministry on shifting operations, adding the domestic terminal was very much part of the master plan.

Nine hundred flights operate out of the two active passenger terminals of IGI, the country’s busiest airport. All international flights operate from Terminal 3, which also handles some domestic traffic bulk of which passes through 1D. Budget carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir use 1D.