Domestic ops at Delhi Airport’s T3 to start only by September end

Domestic travellers will get to see the swanky Terminal 3 (T3) at Delhi’s IGI Airport only by September end, a month late, as a host of problems including erratic power and water supply plague the facility.

The decision to postpone domestic operations, which was to start from T3 on August 27, was taken after civil aviation minister Praful Patel visited the terminal on Thursday “The position will be reviewed by the minister in mid-September, following which a decision on date of shifting of domestic operations to T3 will be taken,” said a statement from the Civil Aviation Ministry.

“Presently, the quality of power supply is erratic, which is affecting the sophisticated baggage handling and security equipment at the terminal,” said the ministry statement.

Delhi Trancco was to set up a 220KVA sub-station by July 31. But now, DTL representatives have expressed their inability to commission the it before September 15.

Also, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which was to supply three MLD water to the airport, has failed to fulfil the requirement, the statement said. Apart from it, connectivity from the domestic terminal to T3 was a problem.

During the minister’s visit, it was felt that completion of the underpass connecting the Dwarka junction to the central spine at Mahipalpur was necessary for alternative connectivity to T3 before the domestic operations begin.

The road will ease traffic congestion to T3 as there is only one approach for the new terminal via National Highway 8 (NH-8), the ministry said. “The Metro line connecting T3 to central Delhi also is not yet ready and is likely to become operational only in mid-September. So, keeping these factors in mind, it was decided to keep the shifting of domestic flight operations to T3 in abeyance,” the ministry said

Mr Patel along with secretary civil aviation M Madhavan Nambiar, director general Civil Aviation (DGCA) Nasim Zaidi, chairman AAI, VP Agarwal and senior officers from the ministry of civil aviation, DIAL, Air India and BCAS visited the new terminal, inaugurated on July 3 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The terminal was opened for international flights on July 28 and airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher were supposed to start using it for domestic flights from August 27.