Indigo, Spicejet likely to move to T2 by March end after apex court order

NEW DELHI: The Delhi airport hopes to start partial operations of Indigo and Spicejet airlines from Terminal 2 by March end.

I Prabhakara Rao, CEO of Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), said they had received requests from both the airlines and within a week would decide what flights move to Terminal 2.

T2 was ready for operations from January 2017 but because airlines delayed their shifting from T1, operations could not be started.

In October, Goair shifted to T2 but Indigo approached the Supreme Court against the move. Now after the court’s order, both Indigo and Spicejet will have to shift to Terminal 2.

Though DIAL said it is yet to finalise the cities to which Indigo and Spicejet flights will operate from T2, sources said that some of the routes proposed by Indigo includes Amritsar, Vishakhapatnam, Bagdogra and Baroda.

Spicejet has suggested seven cities that include Patna, Goa, Ahmedabad and Kochi.

While Indigo’s spokesperson said they were in consultation with DIAL, Spicejet refused to comment on the matter.

“They (airlines) have given us some sectors and we are discussing it. We are hopeful that by the end of this month, operations of flights will start from T2,” Rao said.

Rao said the capacity of T1 will be reduced so that they can expand the terminal. “No compromise will be made with passenger comfort during the expansion work that will start by September this year,” Rao added.

With 63.5 million passengers flying through the Delhi airport in 2017, it has surpassed Changi, Incheon and Bangkok airports in terms of passenger growth. It is now the seventh busiest air- port in Asia and among the top 20 busiest airports across the world.

T1 handled 24 million passengers in 2016-17, of which 3.6 million used Go Air; 16.1 million used Indigo and 4.5 million used Spicejet. DIAL needs to shift 8 million passengers in order to start expansion work of T1.

“That is why we are insisting that at least one third of the total passengers of these airlines must shift to T2. They can choose the sectors but it cannot exceed beyond 10. Once we finalise the sectors, the signage will be changed at T2 and passengers will be informed accordingly,” an airport source said.