Next time you fly to and from Delhi, check terminal number on ticket once more The existing terminal area at T1 would be roughly increased two-and-a-half times to 133,000 square metres

Dhirendra Tripathi

Moneycontrol News Passengers flying to and from Delhi are used to a simple rule on which terminal their flights will land at or depart from. All low-cost airlines operate from terminal T1, also called the domestic airport, while all full-service carriers operate from terminal T3 which is also called the international airport. That clarity is set to get clouded and the passengers will soon have to take a hard look at their flight tickets.

This is because the Delhi International Airport has asked all the three low-cost airlines operating from terminal T1 of the capital’s airport to shift 30% of their operations to terminal T2, a source familiar with the development told Moneycontrol. The airport developer has sent a letter to the airline companies in this regard. The shift to T2 is necessary for the airport developer to undertake expansion of T1.  T2 is currently being used mostly to operate Haj flights.The three airlines that fly to and out of the airport’s terminal T1 — InterGlobe Aviation that runs Indigo Airlines, Spicejet and GoAir — were set July 15 deadline to decide amongst themselves on who would shift from the terminal they currently operate from. The airlines have been asked to begin the process of shifting by October 1.

The airport developer, in which GMR Infrastructure’s wholly-owned arm GMR Airports has a 64% stake, has not given destination-wise specifications for shifting of the operations. The airlines thus have the liberty of deciding which city they will fly to from which terminal.The shifting of operations to a new terminal isn’t easy, not just operationally but also from marketing point of view. Sale of seats, passenger convenience and communication from the airlines to flyers, particularly in cases where tickets are already booked, is a complicated task that is fraught with risk of negative customer feedback.

The letter to the airlines comes after they failed to reach an agreement amongst themselves on the shifting of the operations. Airlines were reluctant to shift their operations to T2 due to higher cost of operations there.“Normally, there’s a half-hour lag between one landing and a take-off. The same operation at T2 will increase the interval by 15 minutes. This will reduce plane utilization and increase fuel costs. No airline, on its own, would like to walk into that scenario unless adequately incentivised,” an official with one of the low-cost carriers had earlier told Moneycontrol. Low-cost carriers use T1 for all their local and international flights from and to Delhi. The Delhi airport currently has three terminals with T3 being used by full service local carriers for both their domestic and international flights. International airlines as well as their Indian units like that of AirAsia also use T3. According to DIAL’s expansion plan, the existing terminal area at T1 would be roughly increased two-and-a-half times to 133,000 square metres from the present 53,000 and it would be able to handle 23 million passengers. The number of aerobridges will also rise as much to 25 from 10 now.