Delhi airport plans expansion, to get a new T3-like terminal

The expansion plan encompasses a new pier building which will be built as an extension of the merged T1D and T1C terminals.

New Delhi airport — An airport staff employee stands inside the newly constructed T3 terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi in this July 15, 2010, file photo. REUTERS/B Mathur

National capital's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport will get a new integrated terminal like T3, under the facility's expansion plans.

The expansion plan for the airport was revealed by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the operator of IGI airport, here on Tuesday.

According to DIAL, the budget passenger carriers' departure terminal T1D and terminal T1C will be merged into one and expanded to accommodate 40 million passengers per annum.

"This (merged) terminal will be like another T3. We are going to repeat another T3," I. Prabhakara Rao, CEO, DIAL, said during a briefing on the expansion plans.

The expansion plan encompasses a new pier building which will be built as an extension of the merged terminals with 22 aerobridges and 15 bus gates.

However, for the plans to go forward the operator would need to shift some traffic catered to by the current T1D to T2 terminals.

T1D terminal, which has a passenger handling capacity of 20 million per annum, saw 24 million passengers in 2016-17.

The terminal is being used by low-cost carriers -- IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet -- for operations.

Last year, DIAL had finalised the expansion plans in consultation with Ministry of Civil Aviation and other stakeholders to come out with its Masterplan 2016.

"The masterplan will be implemented in three modular phases -- 3A (2018-21), 3B (2021-25) and phase 4 (2026 onwards)," the company said in a statement.