Delhi (DEL) | Indira Gandhi International Airport

[aranjan]

Originally Posted by european

i mean that terminal T2 (international) looks so much better then before because they spent so much time and money doing it up but what is the point if they not gonna use it and knock it down in few years, seems like waste of time and money.

It will most likely be torn down in either 2012 or 2014 depending on when the second phase of the master plan takes place, so even if it is torn down in 2012 that means that for at least 4 years travelers got to go through at least a decent international terminal as opposed to the hell hole that the AAI had left for GMR. I have been through the international terminal many times over the past 15 years or so and the terminal before GMR came was beyond sh**, it had no functioning AC, it was smelly, filthy and looked like it was going to crumble down any second. Today it actually feels decent and I can actually enjoy going through it because of what GMR has done with T2.

If a new visitor to India came through and left through T2 before it was modernized then I can guarantee you they would have a terrible memory of India, but thanks to GMR that will most likely not be the case.

[qwertyasd]

exactly, we want the tourists to remember the taj mahal and not a smelly airport toilet.

[ir desi]

Originally Posted by todscreen

Euromast, those pictures belong to the renovated current domestic terminal. The newly built terminal has an airy interior.

i like both terminals...delhi did a good job..but not sure which terminal the video of flooding was from.

Hi Tod,

The first video is a splice of crap from completely different places with misleading associations between unrelated audio and visuals. The scenes where flooding is shown are all from T1C.

The second video shows footage from T1D, VIP exterior drop-off zone (ground level). The flooded area in that video is the area directly underneath the elevated drop-off zone for general passengers. This is an exterior area, and it is completely reasonable that under so much rain that area would flood, though now GMR must wish it had installed storm drains in that area. Kudos to GMR for controlling the rain by keeping it on the blacktop and off the pedestrian walks.

[Euromast]

New terminal for private jets to come up at IGI: DIAL

NEW DELHI: Those flying out of the national capital on private jets or by chartered flights may not have to wade through the crowded departure
terminal of the IGI airport as the operator is planning to build a new dedicated general aviation terminal.

The airport operator- Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL)- has planned to build a new domestic departure terminal or the general aviation terminal after demolishing the decommissioned World-War II era terminal 1B (T1B).

DIAL has decommissioned T1B from May 13 after all the airlines shifted their operations to the swanky new domestic departure terminal (T1D), built at a cost of Rs 500 crore.

"After decommissioning of T1B, various options are being explored. One of the options being, setting up of a dedicated general aviation terminal," a DIAL spokesperson said.

The new general aviation terminal would be built on 60-65 per cent area of the old building while the rest 35-40 per cent area would be kept for future expansion of the domestic arrival terminal (T1C), he added.

[zenith_suv]

and that future expansion of the arrivals terminal 1C is already happening , however not on the side of 1B - it's an added area stretching towards the new terminal - doesn't seem big enough for any major conveyor belts addition but for something much smaller , perhaps a media briefing room or something like that.

[bains1971]

Any renders for this new proposed terminal?

[Abhishek901]

The problem of traffic jams on the Mehrauli-Mahipalpur Road, the shortest route from south Delhi to the airport, is likely to remain till November. The road improvement projects that were to be taken up have been delayed and work on them will only start by September, by which time these were supposed to have been completed. Meanwhile, the snarls on the road have become worse and reports of passengers getting caught in the chaos and missing flights have become even more common.

The long-term solution for this mess, a tunnel road link from Mahipalpur to the IGI Airport, is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Recently, Ashish Khurana, a fashion designing student, managed to catch his Jet Airways flight by a matter of seconds, after he reached the airport 15 minutes before his flight was scheduled to take off all because he got stuck in the Mahipalpur traffic jam. "I decided to take the Mahipalpur road since the RTR crossing is usually completely jammed. However, my decision almost made me miss my flight as the jam on the other road was worse. I reached the Mahipalpur Road around 9.30am. From there, it took me an hour and 15 minutes before I got to the domestic airport,'' he said.

According to PWD officials, preliminary work of road repair and filling up of potholes has been carried out. However, a lot of the road improvement work like road levelling, providing pedestrian crossings and guardrails and U-turns will only be started in another month. "We have got clearances for the remaining projects. Work on them will start in another month and we are hoping that it is completed by November,'' said an official.

Airport sources said that such instances were on the rise, specially since a flyover construction started on the Rao Tula Ram road. The flights worst affected are those that depart between 10am and noon and then in the evening between 7 and 9. With the MG Road also clogged due to the Metro construction, most people heading towards Gurgaon have started using the Mahipalpur road as easy access to the Gurgaon expressway. "The road is also an important link between the airport and several important hospitals like the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre where all airport medical cases are referred. It is important that the road becomes more accessible,'' said an official.

The spokesperson of an international airlines said that even though check-in for international flights was three hours before departure, several passengers are reaching the airport with only about a couple of hours to spare. "We know by experience now to permit boarding of these passengers because even our crew tends to get stuck on this road,'' she said.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

The gateway to a modern city is its airport. It complements the city, making an impression both with its grandeur and facilities offered.

There's no better place to start the revamp process than the airport, the gateway to Delhi for foreigners, because it's all about the first impression. So, by the first half of next year, airport facilities and air travel are likely to be redefined.

Work on the new integrated terminal (T3) at IGI Airport, which is about 70% complete, is moving as per schedule. All international airlines will be shifted to the new terminal before the Games while domestic airlines will continue to operate from the new departure terminal 1D. Later, 1D will be used exclusively for low-cost carriers (LCC) while the other airlines will move to T3. Terminals 1A and arrival will remain operational while the old departure terminal, 1B, is being pulled down to make way for offices. The present international terminal will remain but no use has been decided for it yet.

With an outlay of Rs 9,000 crore, T3 will add a capacity of 37 million passengers per annum (mppa) to the existing infrastructure. Against an expected traffic of 30 mppa by 2010, the airport will have a combined capacity of 60 mppa. The new runway that is already operational has increased the airport's handling capacity to 65-70 flights per hour. The taxiing time will also reduce because the new terminal is much closer to the new runway.

However, officials say that even after the terminal is made operational, work will continue on the building. "As with terminal 1D, some basic work will continue to take place inside. As per the agreement, we have till March 31, 2010 to make the terminal operational. Everything will be done to ensure that it is functional by then but the scale of work is so enormous that all of it cannot be finished immediately,'' said sources.

Concern is also being raised at the quality of work especially after leaks were reported in the first project completed by DIAL. Terminal 1D was flooded at least twice recently when it rained. While officials say these are just teething troubles, government sources say that management should maintain better standards of work.

Even as there are worries about the quality of work, a dedicated Metro rail service to the airport is likely to be completed by September 2010. Access to the airport will also be eased by way of four road projects. Access to the new terminal itself would be via a six-lane approach road. The road projects include a roundabout at Dwarka that will come up by the middle of next year, a northern access road that will be built via the Dwarka circle. This will be similar to the existing Dwarka underpass that will run parallel to the Jumbo point and open into the main access road from the new terminal. Another underpass, starting from Ryan Public School in Vasant Kunj, will lead directly to the airport.

The road projects have been delayed due to various reasons, including non-availability of land. The delay eventually became so worrying that the civil aviation ministry took up the matter with officials to expedite the work.

"As work is progressing on these, effort needs to be made to streamline the existing traffic as construction activity is leading to several traffic jams on the routes,'' said a senior ministry official. For instance, the construction of the tunnel road from Vasant Kunj is leading to long jams so much so that passengers travelling on the domestic sector often end up missing their flights. "The Mahipalpur road has always been in a bad state and the construction work on that stretch is leading to snarls, specially between 8 am and 10 am and then in the evening.

Amid these fears, the new terminal holds out hope. When complete, it will boast of 75 aerobridges for passenger embarkation and disembarkation. With 168 check-in counters, passengers can bid farewell to long queues. More than 90 desks will be made available for immigration.

For baggage reclamation, international passengers will have access to six wide-body reclaim belts of which two will be large enough to accommodate baggage of A380s. Domestic passengers will be able to claim their baggage at a separate domestic baggage reclaim hall.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

2 doubts on facts of previous post:

(1) They have said that T3 is being constructed at a cost of 9000 crores. But I have read earlier that the cost of entire Phase-I of airport modernisation (which included 3rd runway, T3, refurbished terminals etc.) was around 8500 crores (I have repeatedly seen this figure since the contract was awarded to GMR). In that case 9000 cr for T3 alone seem to be enormous or wrongly quoted. For a comparison, 1D with a capacity of 12 million was built for 500 cr. T3 has a capacity of 37 million as of now. Though it has other facilities such as aerobridges etc., still 9000 cr seems to be incorrect figure.

(2) It is written that the construction of the tunnel road from Vasant Kunj is leading to long jams. When had it started and what would be its alignment? Though I follow such news regularly, I haven't seen any news related to its construction.

[Abhishek901]

The new domestic terminal (1D) gets its sparkle not from bright electric bulbs but natural light. It's only when dusk descends, lights are switched on.

The new integrated terminal (T3), when complete, would be even more energy efficient than 1D, with Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) having applied for the LEED certification from the Indian Green Building Council. Daylight is a primary focus of the terminal's design while strict quality will be maintained to ensure no or limited presence of organic compounds in adhesives, sealants and paints.

"Other features that have been incorporated in the planning and development are reduction in pollution and site erosion due to construction activity by effective site and waste management. Provision has been made for eco-friendly vehicles. For water conservation, rainwater harvesting will be carried out, the airconditioning systems will also be made water efficient while all the recycled water will be put to use. There will be no use of CFC-based refrigeration while all the construction material and interior finishing material will have a high content of recycled material,'' said a DIAL spokesperson.

About 255 rainwater harvesting pits are under construction at the new terminal and runway while 62 channels are already in place. While a 5 million litres per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant is functional at the airport at present, another 13 MLD plant is being constructed to ensure complete treatment of all waste water. The treated water will be used for toilet flushing, horticulture and construction activities.

Ambient air quality at IGI Airport is also regularly monitored. There are seven permanent ambient air quality monitoring stations to measure parameters such as SPM, SO2, NOX and CO. DIAL has also registered for carbon credits under the clean development mechanism programme.

All passenger coaches on the airside run on CNG for which a station was recently opened at the airport itself. All transport vehicles need to have a mandatory pollution under control certificates. DG sets at the airside are run on special low sulphur diesel.

Ambient noise monitoring is also being carried out at the airport, especially after complaints of massive noise pollution over nearby colonies due to aircraft. An aircraft noise monitoring system is also being set up by the management so that a database of aircraft noise can be maintained. Eventually, information from this will be used to formulate noise mitigation measures.

Times of India

[Abhishek901]

Hindustan Times

[zenith_suv]

Delhi airport modernization: Gearing up for Games traffic

The Hindu Business Line, July 27, 2009

Officials and contractors of Delhi International Airport Limited are working round the clock to give visitors a 21st century welcome at the integrated Terminal 3 coming up at the Indira Gandhi airport in New Delhi.

Well before the athletes and officials from 53 countries start arriving in Delhi to participate in the Commonwealth Games in October 2010, more than 25,000 persons, not only from States as far apart as Tamil Nadu and Punjab but also from other countries, including China, Italy, Australia and the UK, are working round the clock to give the visitors a 21st century welcome at the integrated Terminal 3 coming up at the Indira Gandhi airport in New Delhi.

According to officials of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company modernizing the Delhi airport, the construction of Terminal 3 (T3) will be achieved in a record time of 38 months.

“T5 at Heathrow and the new terminal at Beijing airport took 60 months each to build while constructing Terminal 3 at Changi airport in Singapore took 76 months,” said Mr I. P. Rao, DIAL’s Chief Executive Officer, Airport Development.

One reason for this efficiency is the six months of planning that DIAL undertook before work started in 2006.

The planning included working out specifications of what DIAL was looking for in the contracts that it signed with different companies.

So L&T, the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor, knew before-hand that it would have to import such machinery as Automated Sensor Pavers and 18-tonnes vibrator rollers to be used in the project.

Facilities

Right now, 70-80 per cent of the work at this new integrated domestic and international passenger terminal is over. Once complete, T3 will have glass facades that stretch over 170,000 square metres (42 acres), flooring of granite, stone and other materials will cover 260,000 square metres (65 acres) and the carpeting area will cover 170,000 square metres (42 acres).

“T3 will have 75 aerobridges for passenger embarkation and disembarkation and a five-level in-line baggage handling system (the first airport terminal in India to have a fully automated baggage handling system capable of handling over 10,000 bags an hour).

The check-in area will have 168 counters while the airport will also offer remote check-in facilities at select Delhi metro stations on the airport express-line,” Mr Rao said, during a walk through the project site.

Even as work on the Rs 9,000-crore project is going on, trial runs have begun and the newly set up baggage conveyor belt has been tested with a few pieces of luggage. Sixty-eight elevators, 31 escalators and 76 travelators are being put in place.

Test runs

Also on the cards is getting people involved in the test runs that start early next year.

This will include getting a number of volunteers to walk through the airport to find out its handling capacity. There will also be guided tours of the airport when the structure is complete but before its official opening.

Also in the working stage is a coffee table book on the project. This will contain interesting details, right from the time DIAL officials were told that in certain areas on which they were planning to build the world-class airport there was nothing but a jungle where wild animals wandered free, to senior Government officials joking that DIAL should consider building a landing area for sea-planes instead of an airport as one end of the property had so much underground water!

These were but a few of the problems that DIAL had to face. Numerous encroachments on airport property had to be cleared and some wild animals living in the ‘jungle’ had to be relocated to sanctuaries. However, according to DIAL, the biggest challenge was modernizing T3 while the Delhi airport was in operation.

It was the work done by DIAL at the existing terminal, including the newly inaugurated 1D, for which it got the maximum flak both from travellers and airlines.

Travelers complained of delays, air-conditioning not working, leaking roofs, smelly toilets and high charges for parking vehicles and buying food and beverages.

The airlines resisted the move to the newly constructed domestic departure terminal 1-D citing a variety of issues that increased their cost of operations.

Then there was also the problem of finding enough people to work non-stop to meet the deadline for completing terminal 1D. “When it is harvesting season in the north many of the workers leave to help their families; similarly, workers from the south leave during festivals. It is at these times that we really feel that the decision to have a pan-Indian workforce really helps,” said Mr. Rao.

Not that the problems for DIAL are over, as the project could still face more hurdles. Some airlines are said to be not too keen on shifting from the existing airport to T3.

“We have just shifted to the new 1-D terminal. What sense does it make to shift again and incur more costs in terms of training manpower all over again in a such a short time?” argued an airline official.

What travelers can expect

But the project is underway and Delhi is going to have a new airport next year. So what will it mean for an average passenger travelling through the new terminal?

For starters, get ready for a six-lane road trip to the airport and back. If you do not want to drive, there will be the option of taking the metro train, which will stop close to the airport, allowing you to walk in.

DIAL officials claim that the check-in counters can be used both by domestic and international flyers. It is only after the check-in that the passengers will be segregated and guided to international and domestic departure areas.

Further, T3 is being planned as a modular building, which will have two huge piers on each side, through which passengers can board or disembark from an aircraft through aerobridges.

There will also be 4,000 CCTV cameras put up across the airport to support centralized monitoring and some of the elevators will have a scenic view of the outdoors.

http://newdelhiairport.in/media-con.asp?id=669

I always thought that the metro station would be beneth the terminal 3 however thats not quite the case it seems. Infact just outside the new terminal is a good ides from a security standpoint , passengers could then use the underground walkalators to get inside the new terminal.

[zenith_suv]

Now pamper your feet before you fly
The Hindu, July 26, 2009

More such facilities available for travelers at the new terminal

The second floor of the building also has a “food court”

Passengers flying out of the new domestic departure terminal -- 1D -- of Delhi airport can now look forward to pampering their feet before boarding the flight.

The terminal is all set to have a foot spa where travelers can indulge themselves even as they wait for announcement of their flight. The spa, to be located next to the baby care room in the security hold area of terminal 1D, should be ready for use in about a month from now.

The foot spa will come up over roughly 50 square meters of area and about seven persons can be attended to at a time.

This new feature is among the list of several facilities available for travelers at the new terminal.

Passengers have ample choice in terms of retail outlets -- ranging from Hidesign, Fab India and Satya Paul -- and eateries that practically cover all different cuisines from KFC, Southern Spice to Pizza Hut. The new terminal scores over terminal 1B in terms of passenger facilities. The space allocated for these amenities was only 700 square meters in the old terminal, which is now almost double at 1,500 square meters in terminal 1D. Therefore, the latter allows more room for food and beverage, lounge and retail options.

The second floor of the building has a “food court” on one side and a “Premium Plaza Lounge” on the other, which is exclusively for the business class passengers of full-cost carriers.

Apart from this, toddlers up to ten years have their own space in the “kids’ zone” -- a play area maintained by Walt Disney.

A giant 102-inch television screen has been installed for passengers in the “entertainment zone” of the terminal, which was a big hit during the Indian Premier League and T-20 cricket tournaments.

The terminal, which is Wi-Fi-enabled, has 72 check-in counters and 14 security channels.

After entering the building, a passenger now takes only about eight minutes to reach the security hold area, a process that at times took even more than 30 minutes at terminal 1B.

http://newdelhiairport.in/media-con.asp?id=671

The Wi-fi doesn't quite work as well as expected , the terminal in itself is excellent though.

Making this a subsequent LCC terminal is a master stroke with the number of Low cost carriers in the market including Spicejet , Jet Lite , Kingfisher Red , Indigo , Go Air.

[bhargavsura]

W/E it is, I m proud of it. They are working really hard.

[Indian Forever]

How worker vanish during festive and harvest times, i thought that was a thing of the past, Even DIAL has to put up with this and still finish on track impressive.

[Abhishek901]

Indian Express

The heading is "Plans to switch runways to cut taxiing delays"

[bhargavsura]

9 Km distance from the 29-11 Taxiway to the domestic terminal. That just gives us an idea of how the airport is man. Wow.

[Abhishek901]

Originally Posted by bhargavsura

9 Km distance from the 29-11 Taxiway to the domestic terminal. That just gives us an idea of how the airport is man. Wow.

The actual distance is not 9 km. It is the distance that aircraft has to travel to reach terminal after landing. Planes have to first cover the whole length of 3rd runway, then reach main runway through taxiways and then cover the whole length of main runway to reach domestic terminals. This 9 km includes the length of both runways. The horizontal distance is much less. This taxiing distance will reduce to few km once Centaur is demolished in few years time. The size of airport is 20 sq km (5000 acres). The airport is almost square, which means around 5 km of maximum horizontal distance.

[arjunhp]

Took some pics yesterday morning...the airport looked really neat.

[harsh1802]

Originally Posted by arjunhp

Took some pics yesterday morning...the airport looked really neat.

Grt snaps there!