New Delhi, April 14 (Inditop) The new domestic terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport will start commercial operations April 19, it was announced Tuesday.
Built at a cost of Rs.500 crore ($100 million), the terminal will be able to handle 10 million passengers annually and is equipped with 72 check-in counters, its developers said.
The new terminal, called 1D, has been built by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) – a joint venture between the state-run Airports Authority of India and a consortium led by the Bangalore-based infrastructure major GMR.
Jet Airways, Kingfisher, SpiceJet, IndiGo JetLite and Kingfisher Red are among the scheduled domestic carriers that will operate from terminal ID. Currently these airlines operate from terminal 1B.
The new terminal 1D was earlier inaugurated Feb 26 by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
DIAL officials said hectic trials are going on before terminal 1D becomes fully operational from April 19. Similar trials have been going on for over four months.
“Our staff from all areas of operations have been exposed to the new working environment, baggage handling, IT systems and the processes required for day-to-day operations,” said an official.
While all scheduled carriers like Air India, Kingfisher and Jet Airways will shift to the upcoming T3 integrated terminal that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this fiscal, all low-cost carriers – will continue to operate from 1D.
