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Indira Gandhi International Airport

Encyclopedia : I : IN : IND : Indira Gandhi International Airport

{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |IGI Airport |- |align="center" colspan="4"|

|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|10R/28L |valign="top" align="right"|12,500 |valign="top" align="right"|4,031 |valign="top"|Paved |- !align="left" valign="top"|09L/27R |valign="top" align="right"|09,229 |valign="top" align="right"|3,763 |valign="top"|Paved

Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport , located in the city of Delhi, India is one of India's main domestic and international gateways. The airport has been named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. Earlier known as Palam airport, it was renamed IGI airport with the inauguration of a new international building (Terminal 2) on 2 May 1986. The older Palam airport (Terminal 1) is exclusively used for domestic operations. There is also a separate Technical Area for the use of VVIP movements.

Delhi has two non-parallel runways: the main runway 10-28 (12,500 ft) and an auxiliary runway 09-27 (9,229 ft). Runway 10-28 is one of the few runways in Asia equipped with CAT III-B Instrument Landing System. On 31 March 2006, it became the first Indian airport operating two runways simultaneously following a test run involving a SpiceJet plane landing and a Jet Airways plane taking off at the same time. As there is an Indian Air Force Base (Hindon) in the flight path of Delhi airport it is necessary for civilian aircraft to make a 5 minute detour to avoid over-flying the military facility.

Contents

Operators

IGI Airport is the home of several Indian airlines including Air Sahara, SpiceJet, Alliance Air and IndiGo Airlines. Air India, Indian Airlines and Jet Airways use IGI Airport as their second hub after Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The airport is also a major base for various other Indian air carriers including Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air, Air Deccan and Air Sahara.

Terminal 1

Indian Airlines aircraft at IGI
Enlarge
Indian Airlines aircraft at IGI

Terminal 1 serves domestic air carriers linking New Delhi with the rest of India.

Terminal 2

International carriers operating scheduled services from the Indian capital to the following cities are:

Events

Note:None of these events happened in Delhi Airport.

On 23 June 1985, Air India Flight 182, which was flying on a Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, exploded in midair in a suspected act of terrorism, killing all of the passengers aboard.

On 12 November 1996 the airport was the scene of a disaster when a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747, climbing out after take-off, collided with an incoming Kazakhstan Airlines plane chartered by a fashion company, causing the deaths of all aboard the two planes.

On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1999, Indian Airlines Flight 814, which had just taken off from Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi Airport was hijacked. The plane flew around different points in South Asia and Southwest Asia as officials of the Government of India and the Taliban negotiated. One passenger was killed and some were released. On 31 December, 1999, the rest of the hostages on Flight 814 were freed.

Modernization

Due to the very high growth witnessed in airtravel during the years 2004 and 2005, of about 24% per annum, the modernization of the New Delhi and Mumbai airports accounting for over 50% of India's air traffic had become necessary to cope with the growing congestion and traffic. The government of India therefore took up the task of modernization of these airports by opening bids of international airport management consortia.

Following a long and rather controversial procedure, the bids opened by the government were finally won by GMR Industries and Frankfurt airport operator Fraport for the Delhi Airport. According to the deal, the airport will be leased to the private consortium which will hold a 74% stake in the airports while the AAI will retain 26%. This airport lease will be for 30 years with a provision for extension. The airport is to be ready by the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

There was also a strike organised by the workers of the AAI in protest against the "privatization" of these airports which affected domestic air traffic to some extent. The air-force had to be called in too. Finally the Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, in accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, guaranteed the workers that the new management will absorb 60% of the staff and the remaining will be absorbed by the AAI. Reliance Capital which was one of the bidders has challenged the award of contracts in the Delhi High Court but a verdict is yet to be given by the court.

The modernization process has begun with the consortiums having deposited the bank guarantees of Rs.5 billion each.

Fixed Base Operators (FBO)

Caterers

Fuelers

Ground Handlers

External links

Airports in India
International airports: Agra - AGR1 | Ahmedabad – AMD | Amritsar - ATQ | Bangalore – BLR | Calicut – CCJ| Chennai – MAA | Gawahati - GAU | Gaya - GAY1 |Goa -GOI | Hyderabad - HYD | Indore – IDR1 | Jaipur – JAI1 | Kochi - COK| Kolkata – CCU | Lucknow - LOK1| Mumbai – BOM | New Delhi – DEL | Patna – PAT1 | Thiruvananthapuram – TRV | Varanasi – VNS1

(1)Designated as customs airports. A few International flights operates from here.

 

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