Low-cost carriers (LCCs) would continue their domestic operations out of Terminal 1D, the existing domestic terminal, of Indira Gandhi International Airport. IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir, the budget carriers, were scheduled to shift to the new integrated terminal T3 by next March.
But the domestic operations of full-service carriers (FSCs) — Air India, Jet Airways and its low-cost subsidiaries JetLite and Jet Konnect, and Kingfisher Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Kingfisher Red — will shift to T3 by mid-November as per the schedule.
“We will take a call on shifting LCCs to T3 in January next year,” said a senior Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) executive, who did not want to be identified.
“T3, with an annual capacity to handle 34 million passengers, will handle 20 million passengers after the domestic operations of FSCs shift to the new terminal and if LCCs shift to the new terminal, almost all our capacity will get exhausted.”
DIAL, the airport operator, handles about 26 million passengers annually. Of this, LCCs account for 12 million passengers. Now, T3 caters only to international traffic, which is around 4.54 million passengers per annum — much less than its capacity.
Earlier, the plan was to shift LCCs to the new terminal in March 2011 and use a part of Terminal 1D as general aviation terminal. Now, many carriers operate their domestic operations from Terminal 1D. Air India and GoAir operate from Terminal 1A.
Shifting of domestic operations of FSC to T3, built at a cost of Rs 12,700 crore, was originally scheduled to happen by mid-July and then by August-end. The deadline was extended to October 30, as the civil aviation ministry did not want any disturbance to the international tourists and delegations coming for the Commonwealth Games. It was again extended to mid-November because the connecting roads to the terminal and the metro link to the airport were not ready.
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T3 also witnessed many postponements, after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Immediately, after its inauguration, DIAL carried out test flights to prove the capability of the airport.
On July 14, seven arrivals and departures took place. The next day, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, Airbus 380, arrived at the airport for a trial flight, a first for India.