By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, APRIL 21, 2017: THE Ministry of Civil Aviation is working with stakeholders on a roadmap to increase Airside Capacity of Delhi Airport from the current 67 movements per hour to 95 movements per hour at peak time in the next three years. By the end of 2017 the Airside Capacity is expected to rise by 10%, with around 72 to 73 movements per hour. Briefing media persons in New Delhi yesterday, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr Jayant Sinha said that with the increase in airside capacity it is expected that the passenger movement at Delhi airport would also rise from the current 60 million passengers to about 90 million passengers annually . Mr Sinha said that the Ministry will soon put in place a Master Plan for expansion of Airside Capacity and Terminal Capacity at the airport to accommodate the increase in passenger volume.

UK's leading air navigation service provider NATS is closely involved in guiding the airside expansion and is giving inputs on how much the airport capacity can be expanded. Mr Jayant Sinha said that the Ministry is constituting a Flight Operations Committee with immediate effect to work out the modalities for the expansion. He said the committee would meet every month and guide and facilitate close cooperation in this regard among the various stakeholders including Air Traffic Control, Airlines and Airport Operator. NATS will also be associated with the Flights Operations Committee.

Regarding expansion of terminal capacity Mr Sinha said that the plan was to shift operations from Terminal – I to Terminal - 2, expand Terminal- I, bring down Terminal-2 and build Terminal-4.