Delhi airport to close one of its three runways for repair in November, flight disruptions likely

Flight operations at Delhi airports are likely to be hampered in November as one of its three runways will be closed for repairs for 13 days, PTI reported on Wednesday. Runway 27/09 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport will be closed for “preventive repairs” for 13 days from November 15, said the Delhi International Airport Limited in a statement.

“This will lower the capacity of IGI Airport by 50 arrivals and 50 departures per day in this duration,” said an unidentified DIAL spokesperson. The repairs are essential for safe aircraft operations and “to avoid sudden disruptions that cause greater impact due to time required for planning the logistics”, said the spokesperson.

The other two runways will continue to function normally. However, since the airport handles almost 1,300 flights every day, operating them with two available runways will lead to disruptions, reported the Hindustan Times.

The combined capacity of the three runways is 75 aircraft an hour, the highest in the country. After the closure of one runway, the capacity is likely to reduce to 60 aircraft per hour. This will lead to longer waiting periods before landing and take-off.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “Departures will be affected while in Delhi during the repair work, 15 flights will be affected everyday.” A Vistara spokesperson said that the airline will reschedule or cancel some flights during this period.

It was earlier announced that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, which handles 950 flights each day, will also experience disruptions due to runway repairs between February 7 and March 30 next year. Around 700 domestic flights are expected to be affected every week during this period and all international flights will be rescheduled. The repair work will be carried out on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays.