Delhi Airport Is Closing One Terminal. What It Means, Explained

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the largest airport in India and one of the top 10 in the world, is closing its Terminal 2 for operations from April 15, 2025. This will see 122 IndiGo flights move from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1. The newly constructed Terminal 1 has been in the news for the wrong reasons with the roof from the older part of Terminal 1 collapsing last year during heavy rains.

This led to a delay in reopening Terminal 1 to full capacity and utilising the newly constructed terminal to its potential. The airport has a total capacity of 100 million passengers now, more than double of what it was when the airport was privatised in May 2006.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 at Delhi airport was originally built in 1986 and saw suspension of services when international services moved to Terminal 3. The terminal was used as Haj terminal and subsequently operationalised again in 2017 when Terminal 1 was taken up for expansion. IndiGo, which today remains the last carrier to operate from Terminal 2, had knocked at the doors of the court to avoid being shifted to Terminal 2.

Also Read: Two different flight paths: Air India is fortifying its domestic network while IndiGo is going big on international

The terminal has served well for the airport, with the smaller capacity being utilised during the pandemic and when needed and helped cater to the construction of Terminal 1 and its expansion.

Why is Delhi airport closing it?

With Terminal 1, which has a capacity of 40 million passengers per annum available, Delhi airport is consolidating its operations into two terminals, T1 and T3. Terminal 2 will undergo extensive renovations and repair to bring the structure to the standards of the other two terminals, after which the airport operator can think of either converting it as an extension of the international side or using it for domestic expansion again.

The extensive renovations will see self-service baggage kiosks, baggage handling systems, and self-service check-in being introduced at T2. The terminal is important for more than one reason. It is connected to the Delhi Airport Metro Line and is steps away from Terminal 3, which handles all international operations from Delhi, unlike T1 which is a 20-30-minute ride away by road.

What will happen to flights from Terminal 2?

As the season transitioned from Winter to Summer , except IndiGo, all other airlines had shifted their flights to T1. IndiGo flights are shifting to Terminal 1. This would mean streamlined operations for IndiGo with just two terminals to handle instead of three, as is the case currently, and less confusion for passengers.

Also Read: How many flights will be impacted when Delhi Airport's T2 goes for renovation?

There are over 850 weekly flights by IndiGo from Terminal 2. The airline will thus have domestic flights from two terminals in Delhi instead of three, with some domestic departures and all international departures from Terminal 3 and majority of the domestic departures from Terminal 1.

What should the passengers do?

The airlines have already started selling flights from Terminal 1. However, as a passenger, if your ticket is reflecting Terminal 2, it would be wise to check with the airline on where the flights have shifted. IndiGo is a codeshare partner for Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and American Airlines, among others and this change would also impact those passengers who are ticketed on one of these carriers but are flying their first leg of the journey with IndiGo till Delhi. The changed terminal would mean making arrangements for transfer and increased transfer times which in some cases would have impacted the flights completely.

Passengers should ensure that the contact details in the ticket are updated and check the ticket on the airline website for any changes that may have occurred and yet to be communicated.

Tail Note

GMR has been tirelessly investing in Delhi airport in a multiphase development which started with building Terminal 3 before the Commonwealth Games and expanding various other infrastructure since then, including a fourth runway and India's first elevated cross taxiway among others. Currently, the airport is improving ILS (Instrument Landing System) on one of its runways, leading to temporary closure.

Terminal 2 has often been criticised by passengers for missing out on the quality standards of other two terminals and this renovation will get the Terminal at par with the other two. How the airport operator utilises it will be keenly seen as it continues to add flights and act as a hub for Air India and IndiGo.

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