BRICS Summit: Delhi airport to up capacity for international passengers, have dedicated immigration counters

Delhi airport operator DIAL on Wednesday said it has put in place various measures to ensure smooth handling of increased international passenger traffic during the BRICS Summit this week, including enhancing capacity at Terminal 3.

The airport will also have dedicated immigration counters for the BRICS participants and adequate arrangements have been made for landing and parking of aircraft as increased number of international flight movements are expected during the summit period, according to a source.

The 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit will be held in the national capital on September 12 and 13.

As part of the preparedness measures, DIAL said Pier C at Terminal 3 (T3) will be progressively operationalised for international flight operations from the night of September 9 and it has also put in place enhanced coordination mechanisms with relevant stakeholders.

“Pier C will facilitate international arrivals, with both international arrivals and departures planned to be handled from the evening of September 10 onwards,” Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a statement.

Once Pier C is fully operational, annual capacity for international passengers will increase by 50 per cent to 31 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA).

Generally, a pier at an airport is a long and narrow structure or transfer facility from the main terminal building and allows passengers to use aerobridges to enter an aircraft.

DIAL-operated Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital handles over 1,300 flight movements daily.

For the summit, DIAL CEO Pradeep Panicker said it has undertaken comprehensive preparedness measures in close coordination with all security and operational stakeholders to efficiently manage the anticipated increase in international traffic as well as maintain the highest standards of safety, security and passenger experience.

“The operationalisation of Pier C further strengthens our international handling capability at Terminal 3 and provides us with additional flexibility during this important global event,” he said.

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IGIA, also the country’s biggest airport, has three terminals — T1, T2 and T3 — and international flight operations are only from T3.

At present, the airport has an annual passenger handling capacity of 106 million spread across the three terminals. The capacity is 42 million, 14 million and 50 million at T1, T2 and T3, respectively.