Expanded T1 likely to open in June; working on boosting international passenger capacity: Delhi airport operator chief

New Delhi: Delhi airport operator DIAL expects to operationalise the expanded Terminal 1 (T1) this month and is also working on increasing the capacity for international traffic, a top executive said on Friday.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital currently has an annual capacity to handle 100 to 105 million passengers and the international passenger capacity is around 22 million.

"We are hoping that sometime during this month itself, T1 will be operational... we will shift step by step from T2 to T1," DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said.

The expanded T1 was inaugurated in March this year.

The airport, operated by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), has three terminals --- T1, T2 and T3.

Talking on the sidelines of the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024 here, Jaipuriar said the airport saw international passenger traffic of close to 20 million last year.

"We have a capacity of 22 million and that is only a headroom of 10 per cent. I need to increase that capacity because we expect that the growth will be at least 8-10 per cent."

"We have to be ahead of the curve and we are looking at various options," he said and added that making T2 an international terminal is one of the options.

The operator is looking to increase the international passenger capacity by more than 40 per cent.

At present, the airport has around 1,500 slots daily and DIAL is working on plans to increase the number by 500-700.

DIAL, which is a consortium led by the GMR Group, is working on a 10-year master plan, which will be prepared after discussions with airlines and other stakeholders.

"Master plan is typically for long term to see how traffic will be going in the next ten years and based on that see what all facilities need to come up to support that growth," he said.

Air India and IndiGo have placed huge orders for aircraft, including wide-body planes, and efforts are going on to develop international aviation hubs in the country.