Delhi airport pauses runway upgrade work amid flight delays

Delhi airport

To ease air traffic congestion and reduce flight delays, Delhi airport operator DIAL has announced a temporary suspension of upgradation work on runway RW 10/28. The runway will be reopened for operations in the first week of May.

Delhi airport has four runways in total — RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 11L/29R, and RW 10/28.

In a series of posts on X, DIAL said that in coordination with stakeholders, it has decided to temporarily suspend the critical ILS (Instrument Landing System) upgrade work necessary for the winter season.

"Runway 10/28 will be brought back into operation in the first week of May, with the remaining upgrade activities deferred for a month or so," it said.

The decision comes against the backdrop of flight delays due to reduced capacity following the runway closure and easterly winds.

Runway RW 10/28, where one side is not compliant for CAT III operations, was closed for operations this week to carry out maintenance works. A CAT III facility allows aircraft operations in low-visibility conditions.

On April 11, DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar told PTI that the maintenance works of the runway RW 10/28 will be completed by September, well before the fog season.

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the country's busiest airport.

On Sunday, as well as the past few days, authorities have put in place Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) measures to prevent possible flight delays.

A senior Air Traffic Controller (ATC), on Friday, explained that ATFM measures are generally implemented to ensure that there is no delay for aircraft before landing at an airport.

At Delhi airport, RW 10/28 is temporarily closed for maintenance works, and that has reduced the arrival capacity at the airport. Now, around 31-32 aircraft, both scheduled and non-scheduled, can arrive per hour, while it was 45 planes per hour when RW 10/28 was available for operations, the controller had said.