Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport becomes India's first airport with four runways
Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the airport's fourth runway, increasing its throughput capacity from around 1400-1500 air traffic movements per day to around 2000 air traffic movements per day.
The addition of the fourth runway will enable the airport to serve over 109 million passengers annually. With the new runway and terminal, the Delhi airport will be well equipped to meet the growing demand and is set to become a major international hub.
Palam Airport was built around World War II which lasted from 1939 to 1945 and served as an air force station for the Indian Air Force. However, in 1962 passenger operations were also started due to an increase in the number of passengers. Palam Airport has been converted into IGI Airport in the year 1986.
Eastern Cross Taxiway (ECT)
The ECT connects the northern and southern parts of the airfield, reducing taxi times for aircraft and allowing passengers to disembark within 12 minutes of landing. The distance that an aircraft has to travel after landing on the 3rd runway from ECT and going to Terminal 1 (T1) will now be reduced from 9 km to 2 km.
The ECT is expected to save around 350 kg of fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by 55,000 tonnes. IGIA is operated by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a consortium led by GMR Airports Infrastructure Limited.
