New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DIAL) could soon get its second international terminal with Indian domestic carriers expanding international capacity. Recently IndiGo has asked DIAL to equip Terminal 1 for international operations. Currently IndiGo operates its international traffic from Terminal 3.
The Times of India quoted a source: “The expansion was planned as an all-domestic terminal. During COVID, work on T1 was slowed down in 2020 and 2021. Subsequently, the rebound in air travel has been beyond what one had anticipated. So, T1 work will be completed as per the origin plan to avoid any delay, given the rise in traffic and, then, clearance will be sought from multiple government agencies concerned to have facilities for international traffic at T1.”
DIAL was revamped during the 2010 Commonwealth Games with brand new Terminal 3. Since then, it is used for international as well as domestic flights for full-service airlines like Air India, Vistara while Terminal 1 is reserved for domestic flights of low-cost airlines, such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Go First.
But the low-cost carriers are increasingly operating international flights, particularly out of Delhi. Hence the demand for a separate dedicated terminal for handling domestic and international traffic is growing stronger.
IndiGo operates flights out of all three terminals T1, T2, and T3. Having single terminal operations would be far more efficient and cost-effective.
Sources have claimed that the T3 will be reserved for Tata Group, Air India-Vistara and Air India Express-AirAsia India and foreign airlines while T1 for Indigo and T2 for domestic operations for Indian full-service airlines.
