he fourth runway at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport will become operational in September. Once operational, the fourth runway will not only increase the per hour flight handling capacity of the Delhi airport, but will also cut down the waiting time for approaching and departing flights. This will be only Indian airport to have four runways.
“September 2023 will be witness to Delhi airport getting a new terminal and the fourth runway becoming operational. The Indian aviation sector is growing rapidly and we are preparing for better infrastructure and better connectivity with a renewed focus on innovation,” Union Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said on Thursday. The aviation secretary made the comments at the EU-India Aviation Summit, which began on Thursday.
According to officials familiar with the development, the fourth runway is expected to be around 4,400 metres long and 75 metres wide. It is slightly smaller than the third runway (known as 29/11). “The fourth runway is expected to ease the pressure of a likely rise in flight operations. The new runway will considerably cut the waiting time for flights to land and take off,” an official said.
The new runway will be equipped with advanced landing systems allowing flight operations in visibility as low as 50 metres. The strip will be capable of catering to the biggest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380. The fourth runway will also have instrument landing systems at both its ends to allow compatible aircraft to land even when the visibility is as low as 50 metres during dense fog. “This will also make Delhi airport the only one in the country to have three runways with advanced landing system,” the officer added.
The new runway is part of Phase III-A of the Delhi airport’s expansion plan. The original deadline for the plan was mid-to-end 2022.
DIAL (Delhi International Airport Limited), a joint venture majority-owned by the GMR Group, had in 2019 announced an investment of Rs 9,800 crore to upgrade the existing Terminal 1, build a fourth runway and for other development works to increase the airport’s capacity to 100 million passengers a year from 66 million now. The work on the runway was affected due to the coronavirus, the official said.
Delhi airport at present is undergoing expansion to attain a passenger handling capacity of up to 140 million per year. The current capacity of the airport is of around 100 million passengers.
As planned, apart from the fourth runway, the revamped airport will have a first of its kind ‘dual elevated cross taxiway’ which would help in reducing the taxiing time of aircraft. Terminal 1, which is at present closed for operations, is also being expanded and its total area will increase taking its passenger handling capacity from 20 million passengers per year to 40 million.
