Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport is gearing up for a significant runway upgrade that will lead to the cancellation of 114 daily flights over a three-month period, from June 15 to September 15. The airport operator, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), has announced that this measure is essential to enhance the airport's infrastructure and improve operations, particularly during the foggy winter months.
The runway in question, RW 10/28, is one of the four runways at IGI and is slated to undergo an upgrade to achieve CAT III-B compliance. This upgrade includes enhancements to the Instrument Landing System (ILS), which is crucial for guiding aircraft during low-visibility conditions. Once the upgrade is complete, the runway will be fully equipped to handle low-visibility operations from both ends, a significant improvement over its current capability of handling such operations from only one end. With this upgrade, Delhi Airport will have three runways capable of handling low visibility operations.
According to DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, the decision to proceed with the upgrade was made after extensive consultations with airlines and other stakeholders. The goal is to minimize disruptions and prevent a repeat of the chaos experienced in April when a similar attempt to upgrade the runway was aborted due to inadequate coordination. The earlier attempt in April had to be abandoned within four weeks after flight schedules descended into chaos. The airport became unable to handle its daily load of flights, a situation made worse due to unseasonably high spells of easterly winds, which reduced the hourly arrival rate from 42 flights per hour to 32 flights per hour.
The current plan involves cancelling 114 flights daily (57 arrivals and 57 departures) and rescheduling another 86 flights to off-peak hours. While this may seem like a substantial number, DIAL maintains that the overall impact on passengers will be minimal. Jaipuriar explained that the 114 daily cancellations represent approximately 7.5% of the airport's 1,450 daily flight operations. He also noted that the normal cancellation rate is around 3-3.5%, making the 7.5% figure only slightly above average.
While DIAL anticipates minimal disruption, some airlines will be more affected than others. IndiGo is expected to cancel 33 daily flights, while Air India will cancel 25 flights each day. The cancellation of flights would impact connectivity to Calcutta, Mumbai, Patna and Guwahati. Following the adjustments, the number of daily flights on the Calcutta-Delhi route would be reduced from 22 to 21. For Mumbai, the number of daily flights would drop from 56 to 54, and for Chennai, from 20 to 19.
During the runway closure, the airport will continue to operate with its remaining three runways. Runway 29R/11L will handle departures, 29L/11R will manage all arrivals, and runway 27/9 will handle both arrivals and departures. Under optimal westerly wind conditions, these three runways will be able to handle 42 arrivals and 42 departures each hour. However, during easterly winds, the arrival capacity decreases to 32 flights per hour. The upgraded Runway 10/28 aims to address this disparity, ensuring consistent arrival capacity regardless of wind direction.
DIAL has set a target of completing the ILS installation by November 27, well in advance of the winter fog season. This timeline reflects the lessons learned from the previous attempt in April, where disruptions were exacerbated by a lack of preparedness and coordination. The airport operator is confident that the upgraded runway will significantly improve the reliability and safety of flight operations during low-visibility conditions, benefiting both airlines and passengers in the long run.
