Delhi airport’s third runway, which has been closed since mid-February, may reopen only in September, several weeks later than original planning, as authorities work to shore up the runway’s aircraft handling capacity by 10%, officials familiar with the matter said.
The runway was closed for long-awaited consolidation and modernization. It was scheduled to reopen in early July, but that date was postponed as authorities put in place major systems to add at least eight flights per hour, in parallel with previous work, to limit the possibility of another closure in the short term, four officials familiar with the developments said.
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“Considering the safety and operational benefits, the proposal has already been approved by all stakeholders (AAI, DIAL, DGCA and airline operators). The implementation plan along with the safety assessment report has been submitted to the regulatory body – DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) for approval,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
The extended closure will allow the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to carry out civil works simultaneously, reduce the runway threshold – a portion of the runway on which planes are not allowed to land – and replace the main navigation system. Officials estimate that these changes could increase the capacity of the country’s largest airport by about eight aircraft movements per hour.
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An extension to the Notice of Air Tasking (NOTAM) declaring the runway unavailable is expected to be issued later this month, officials said.
A second official, one of the four mentioned above, said that the authorities decided to take advantage of the current period of reduced traffic to complete all the planned work in one go. “The initially agreed date was early July. However, some additional works need to be completed. “Since the number of flights being operated is less due to schedule reductions announced by Indian airlines in the wake of the West Asia crisis, it has been decided to extend the closure rather than conduct another runway closure at a later date,” the official said.
Delhi airport, which can handle 84 air movements per hour and nearly 1,500 ATMs per day, has seen a roughly 5% decline in flights, largely in domestic operations, since March.
“Performing the sill adjustment and ILS replacement simultaneously would avoid another long runway closure in the future, since carrying out the works separately would have required new turbulence and relocation of navigation equipment. Hence, DIAL and AAI have also decided that the works will be undertaken simultaneously,” it said.
Officials said this will improve safety margins for incoming aircraft, as the landing distance will be increased.
