28.5.11

Special Low Cost Carrier terminal planned @ IGI

Come autumn and Delhi will become the first Indian city to have an integrated domestic-cum-international terminal exclusively for low-cost carriers (LCC), like London’s Stanstead. The GMR-backed Delhi airport management has decided to have customs and immigration facilities at terminal 1D in the next four to five months. While the aim is to make Terminal 1D fit for international operations in time for the biggest Indian LCC, IndiGo, to launch international flights from here by September or October, the terminal is all set to grow bigger by 2013. “At the current rate of traffic growth, we estimate that the 1D-1C (arrival) combine will be able to handle budget fliers for the next two years. Beyond that we will restart terminal 1A by integrating 1A-D-C and create a big LCC hub,” said a senior airport official. Interestingly, the decision to allow LCCs to operate international and domestic flights from the budget terminal 1 hub is causing heartburn to full service airlines. “People flying in and out of T3 feel they have to walk long distances at the new terminal. While the fare difference between LCCs and us is not significant, many people choose budget fliers simply because they can fly out of 1D where they don’t need to walk long. Now, we will face a similar disadvantage for foreign destinations too where LCCs will start flying,” said a senior official of a full service airline. At present, SpiceJet operates its Kathmandu flight from T3. IndiGo will start international flights to places like Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok and Muscat later this year, with Delhi being it’s defacto hub. The list of destinations LCCs will fly to is set to grow in the coming years. So, even as full service carriers lose their sleep, the airport has realized that growth will come from LCC side and it requires an integrated terminal. The combined annual passenger handling capacity of terminals 1A-D-C is 18 million, about half of T3’s 34 million. Importantly, Terminal 1 airside has about 100 parking bays for commercial and charter planes, apart from the Rs 100-crore 1D. Hence, shifting all international traffic to T3 would have meant creation of more bays at T3 side at a huge expense while underutilizing existing infrastructure. Terminal 1A was mothballed last November when domestic flights of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Kingfisher it used to handle were shifted to Terminal 3. Along with the disused old international terminal 2, it gives the management excess infrastructure that can be put into use as and when required with just some modifications.

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