More air traffic will require better infrastructure

For IGIA, becoming the world’s busiest airport will bring its own challenges

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) could overtake London’s Heathrow airport in traffic volume by 2020. In its report released this week, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India, said that IGI airport, which handled 65.7 million passengers in the 2017-18 fiscal, is likely to handle more than 80 million passengers by 2019-20. Although more air travellers using the Delhi Airport is welcome, the rise in volume of passengers makes its own set of demands on airport infrastructure. CAPA’s mid-year outlook for financial year 2018-2019 lists “slot constraints, insufficient parking bays and congestion at key airports” among the longterm structural challenges facing India’s aviation industry .

Also, experts say the IGIA has some unique challenges that include its capacity to handle air traffic movements . Two of the three runways — one used for arrivals and the other for departures — are located at such a distance that simultaneous arrival and departure of planes is impossible.

Some of the measures that Delhi International Airport Limited, which operates the airport, is planning to ease the burden on IGIA include the creation of a fourth runway parallel to one of the existing runways by 2021. By 2022, with the execution of the Jhewar airport project in Greater Noida, things may become slightly better. Another effective measure could be the introduction of wide-body aircraft such as the Dreamliner, the way Air India is doing on some its domestic routes, to accommodate more passengers. One good solution to gear up for greater passenger volumes is to embrace technology. Some of the best airports in the world — such as Singapore’s Changi and Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss — have deployed automated facilities at many stages, including check-in and baggage drop, which make the navigation from the cab to the aircraft seamless and quick. It’s time the IGIA, too, looked at these.