Panel in place to turn IGI an international transit hub

In its quest to develop Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi as an international air traffic transit hub, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has appointed a committee to devise ways to turn the country’s largest airport matching global standards. The mega project being executed by L&T at an estimated investment of $850 million will have a fourth runway measuring around 4,400 meters long and 75 meters wide. As a matter of fact, the IGI airport is undergoing an expansion to increase Terminal 1's area from 60,000 square metres to 169,000 square meters and build a fully integrated terminal with departures and arrivals under one roof and once completed, the terminal’s capacity will double from 20 million to 40 million.

The committee will report to civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and will study major global airports and suggest measures like fastening domestic to international and international to international transfer, building terminals for the country’s two major airlines – Air India and IndiGo – and creating a structure of slots for them so that flight arrivals and departures happen at an optimum time to increase connections. Measures also included examining global best practices on scheduling to ensure that international and domestic operations complement each other and provide enhanced connectivity essential for setting up India’s first international aviation hub.

The ministry is also contemplating setting up an automatic people mover, which will be an inter-airport fast train connecting all three terminals of the airport.