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Delhi Airport’s Terminal 2, the oldest among the three terminals and the only pre-privatisation passenger-facing structure, is set for a revamp this summer.
The T2 will be shut from April, and flights operating from this terminal will shift to the newly constructed Terminal 1. Before it was revamped, Terminal 1 witnessed a canopy collapse in June last year.
Terminal 2 was built in the 1980s and exclusively handled international operations until 2010, when operations shifted to integrated Terminal 3. The terminal’s apron then played host to grounded airlines like Kingfisher Airlines and operated as Hajj Terminal. In 2017, the terminal restarted operations with Go Air shifting its operations, followed by partial operations of SpiceJet and IndiGo.
This was to make space for reconstruction and expansion of Terminal 1, to increase its capacity to 40 million passengers. With the three terminals in operation, Delhi Airports current capacity is pegged at 100 million passengers, though it is yet to achieve its full potential.
Terminal 2 is the oldest in the airport and has outlived its initial requirements, and it needs a revamp to help tide over temporary capacity hiccups. The older design is not in sync with the other terminals and causes bottlenecks that affect passenger experience.
The airport will install six new aerobridges on the airside while the terminal will see upgrades in ventilation, air conditioning, heating and fire safety, including a more open design. Terminal 2 re-started operations as a domestic terminal and continues to be so.
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This seems to be an intermediate plan until the airport decides on the modalities of having a dedicated Terminal 4, replacing Terminal 2. After that, international flights will operate exclusively from there. The airport is already looking for a people mover to connect the terminals, which are far apart.
Data shared by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that IndiGo operates 829 weekly departures (and arrivals each) from Terminal 2 while Akasa Air operates 105 weekly departures (and arrivals each). It makes little difference for Akasa Air as all its flights currently operate from a single terminal. Also, its passengers can experience a better and newer terminal, along with the airline getting visibility.
However, for IndiGo, it is a double-edged sword. It definitely meant consolidation from three terminals to two, but the location of Terminal 2 being next to Terminal 3 meant that the airline could swap aircraft with those operating from Terminal 3. A total of 58 destinations are connected from T2, some of which being monopoly operations of IndiGo like Deoghar, Aizawl, Hubli or Nashik. The terminal has been handling between 1,500 to a little over 2,000 departing passengers in an hour, especially in the busy hours.
The impact will also be felt by passengers who are connecting from domestic to international flights and flying on non-Tata group airlines operating flights to Terminal 1. The current options of travelling from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 are restricted to a shuttle service operated by Delhi Transport Corporation, one operated by Delhi Metro, or private taxis. With the increased capacity of Terminal 1, will IndiGo manage to convince Delhi Airport to shift all its domestic flights from Terminal 1, as was the case before the split terminal operations? In all likelihood, the switchover will be timed with the shift in scheduling season from Winter to Summer, subject to Terminal 1 being cleared for full-fledged operations.
Indian passengers tend to book flights just ahead of departure and the miniscule advanced bookings beyond April would mean that not many passengers will be impacted. However, both Akasa Air and IndiGo continue to sell flights from and to Terminal 2 in April and beyond. Passengers planning self-connect across terminals should keep the likely change in mind before booking to avoid the last-minute rush.
On the other side of renovation, will Terminal 2 operate as a domestic terminal as is the case now or will it convert to international as an extension of Terminal 3? With IndiGo’s order for widebody aircraft, Delhi Airport’s master plan may undergo a change. What more? IndiGo’s plans of operating more wet-leased widebody starting next season could mean that more space at Terminal 3’s international section is needed, which could possibly shift some narrowbody operations to Terminal 2.
Delhi Airport needs to strike a fine balance between maintaining customer experience and the need to renovate to ensure that it maintains its lead, especially when competition is coming up in the form of Noida International Airport at Jewar, which begins with all operations under a single roof.
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