India’s largest airport is being built in Jewar, a little ahead of Greater Noida. Not only India’s, but it will be the largest in Asia and the third largest in the world on the basis of number of runways. After completion, there will be 6 active runways. It will cost more than 1 lakh crore rupees to build. And after completion, it will be able to handle 12 crore passengers every year. For comparison, if we look at India’s largest airport, IGI airport, it can handle only 6-7 crore passengers in a year So Noida International Airport will be able to handle double the capacity after it opens It will be spread over 7200 acres and will have 4 or 5 terminals So the question is why did they need to build a new airport which is already the biggest airport in the country just 80 km away IGI airport is currently at 9th position in the world and recently it has opened its 4th runway which will be able to handle 2000 flights in a day Apart from this, Delhi has 2 more airports Hinden airport and Safdarjung airport so couldn’t they be expanded?
To know about this, we have to go back to 1918 when Delhi’s first airport was built it was built on the southern boundary of Lutyens Delhi which was called Willingdon airfield this airport was less open and more open because at that time grass runways and tents were called airfields at that time new airplanes were coming to India and most of them were from British Royal Air Force who used to practice and exercise there.
Willingdon Airfield was named after Lord Willingdon who became the Vice-Royal and Governor-General of India. But it took 10 years to build some infrastructure when the first commercial flight landed in 1927. This airfield was converted into a small aerodrome and grassy runways were converted into dirt runways. Asphalt and concrete runways were built later. This was India’s second aerodrome after Juhu Aerodrome in Mumbai. It was commercialized and services started. Delhi Flying Club was also started in 1928.
This club became a place for rich flight enthusiasts who used to take their personal flights from this aerodrome. This aerodrome was used for these purposes but it was mainly used during WWII when the Air Force needed it. It also became a part of South Atlantic Ferry Route where the Allies Air Force used it to transport critical war material. And because the planes had limited range, they had to stop for a while to refuel. That’s why this ferry route was built with so many stops. In 1947, this airport was used a lot in the India-Pakistan war. At that time, most of the flights were air force flights. Commercial flights were very rare. After independence, Delhi’s population increased and the area also expanded which brought the airport which was at the border to the center of the city and the city got spread out around it and new neighborhoods were built which made the airport a place to expand The airport was also changed to Willingdon Airport to Sardarjung Airport which was located near Sardarjung Tong This was Delhi’s main airport and passenger flights increased after Independence It increased so much that in 1962 all its commercial operations had to be shifted to the new Palam airport with the increasing operations, there was another reason that the modern jet engines were more powerful and more efficient than the earlier ones the aircrafts were bigger and could accommodate more people so they needed more space to land and take off a side note, you might have noticed that earlier airports had 2 or 3 runways in cross shape which intersected with each other the main reason for this was that earlier planes couldn’t handle much crosswind while landing and taking off.
Pilots had to first measure in which direction the wind was blowing and then use the runway that was most useful for them. So, one of the three runways was used at a time but it was based on the direction of wind. An aeroplane needs headwind to take off and land in which the wind is blowing from the front opposite the direction of travel. Because the more headwind the wing gets, the more lift it will generate which will reduce the runway’s use during takeoff and landing Today’s planes are so powerful that they can easily handle more crosswinds that’s why we don’t see so many cross runways now Anyway, back to the topic In 1962, all commercial flights were shifted to Palam airport which was opened 30 years ago in 1932 which was also an air force base It lies on the south-western boundary of Dwarka Earlier, it also had two cross-runways one of which was converted into a taxiway and the other was expanded In 1979-80, 30 lakh international and domestic travellers used it At that time, there was only one terminal, T1 This was built on increased demand and a new terminal was built, T2 which was 4 times bigger than T1 It opened in 1986 when Asian Games were going to be held in Delhi After that, all international flights were shifted to T2 and T1 was upgraded after a few years which became T1-A, T1-B and T1-C With the rise of long haul flights and international travel passenger numbers kept on increasing in IJI airport with the improvement in jet engine, range increased significantly which added many new international direct flights to the list Delhi airport was the hub of Air India and other major airlines and international carriers like Pan Am, British Airways and Air France also kept Delhi in the center of their plans.
After liberalization in Indian economy there was a sudden explosion in air travel and everyone started travelling. This meant more expansion in the airport. New wide body aircraft like Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 also needed longer runways, 3.5-4 km long. Super wide gates were also needed in the terminals to accommodate these big aircrafts. In 2006-07, T1 and T2 could handle 1.25 crore passengers. In fact, they were handling 1.65 crore passengers, which is almost 30% more than T1 and T2.
The congestion increased further when the second runway opened that same year, 3.8 km long 10-28. The aircraft movement increased but the passenger movement did not increase as T1 and T2 were very congested. Airport Authority of India needed to do something big in a short span of time because Commonwealth Games was also coming up. So they also started to realize this and they took the support of private companies to build new terminals and runways which would cost thousands of crores. That’s why in 2006 Delhi Airport’s rights were sold to DIAL Consortium which is fully formed as Delhi International Airport Ltd. and similarly Mumbai Airport’s rights were sold to GVK Group. When DIL Consortium was formed, it had 4 major stakeholders GMR Group, Freeport, Malaysia Airports and Airport Authority of India.
9 years later Malaysia Airports sold its stake to GMR Group for 505 crore rupees which gives GMR Group 64% stake in Dyle. With this public-private partnership, IGIE saw a huge transformation in which a new terminal T3 and a third runway was opened in airport in 2010. This new terminal was completed in a record time of 37 months and after its opening, the capacity of the airport increased to 3.4 crore passengers per year. It took 14000 crore rupees to build this terminal and runway. Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway was also opened around the same time which provides non-stop connection between Delhi and Gurgaon. Expressway is located near the airport and multiple approach ramps were built to connect to it.
In 2010, it was upgraded for Commonwealth Games. After opening, T3 became the 8th largest terminal in the world and all international flights were shifted from T1 and T2 In 2011, Airport Express line was opened till T3 which became the first such airport express in the country New runway and terminal was a huge advantage because more people started travelling by air and majority of them were travelling by plane for the first time This was seen because more flights could operate from one airport which was dominated by some players before New airlines were introduced due to the demand which increased competition and ticket prices fell Many new air routes were also built which were not well connected before New low cost carriers like Indigo and Spicejet took advantage of this This exponential growth was seen in early 2000s which is still continuing to some extent After T3, T2 was also renovated in 2010s and now T1 is being renovated in which all the old small terminals T1, A, B, C and D are combined to make a big terminal in this interesting guitar shape It will have gates in its neck with aero bridges where planes will park and entry and exit will be at the base of the terminal After completion, only this terminal will be able to handle 4 crore passengers In Covid, airline industry was in a bad condition for 2 years but since 2022, demand has increased so much that both airlines and airports didn’t expect.
That’s why T1’s renovation and the work of making a new 4th runway was done very quickly after the COVID caused delays. The 4th runway has been opened last month. Now the total flight capacity has increased from 1500 to 2000 flights per day. Apart from this, two elevated taxiways have also been opened, with which planes will be able to cross the road with the help of this elevated structure. This is the first such structure in India. This is because earlier if a plane had to come from the southern runway to the northern terminal or from the northern runway to the southern terminal, they had to go through the western taxiway which was time consuming and fuel consuming. So, this elevated taxiway has given them a shortcut between the two parts of the airport so that the planes can easily go and come.
And now this is very important because the fourth runway has also opened. because it has opened in the 4th run. After T1 expansion, IGI will have a total capacity of 10 crore passengers per year. After that T2 will be expanded. And after that, there is a plan to build a new T4 as per demand. So after this, IGI will have a total capacity of 14 crore passengers per year. For comparison, today there are only 2 airports in the world which have handled more than 10 crore passengers in a year. One is Beijing, China and the other is Atlanta, USA. Presently, IGI has 3 operational terminals.
T1 and T2 for domestic operations and T3 for domestic & international operations IJI airport is spread across 5200 acres and is the busiest airport in India since 2009 In 2022, it was the 9th busiest airport in the world with 5.9 crore passengers and it is also India’s busiest cargo airport It transported around 9 lakh tons of cargo in 2022 IJI is one of the best airports but because it was developed in parts so the connectivity is not that good like between T1 and T3 there is no airside connectivity which means if an international passenger is coming to Delhi he has to clear immigration to go to domestic flights.
Many connecting passengers have to face such issues if their flights operate from different terminals. If after immigration, a passenger wants to go to another terminal after immigration, then inter-terminal transport is very limited. Bus shuttle is provided between all the 3 terminals which runs every 20 minutes. T2 and T3 are very close to each other. It takes 15-20 minutes to reach T1 depending on the traffic situation. In future, these 3 terminals are planned to be connected by air train but it is not approved yet.
