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AgenciesAll runways go! Delhi Airport braces for record winter rush This winter, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is likely to handle more flights than it did in pre-Covid 2019, according to a Times of India report. India’s busiest aviation hub managed around 1,500 average aircraft movements per day in 2019 including scheduled, non-scheduled, VIP, government, and other flights — a figure yet to be surpassed until now. That milestone is expected to be crossed soon.India’s second-busiest airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), handles around 1,000 daily aircraft movements (950 scheduled and the rest non-scheduled) and had already reached its pre-Covid traffic levels about two years ago. Both IGIA and CSMIA exceeded their 2019 passenger footfall figures two to three years ago.“After air traffic revived post-Covid, IGIA used to see an average of 1,450 daily aircraft movements. This winter, we are going to cross that figure for the first time,” senior air traffic control officials told ToI.Even with Noida International Airport (NIA) expected to become operational in December, major airlines are unlikely to relinquish their IGIA slots. Officials from various airlines told ToI that NIA’s opening may reduce passenger footfall at IGIA but not its aircraft movement, as airlines are expected to add new routes instead of shifting existing ones due to slot constraints at IGIA.In 2019, IGIA’s combined summer and winter schedule included up to 1,350 domestic and international flights. After Covid disrupted operations in winter 2019-20, the combined schedule hovered between 1,258 and 1,380 until this summer. Now, under the winter schedule effective October 26, the total has risen to 1,520: finally surpassing pre-Covid levels.Live EventsThe approved schedule, however, represents the maximum number of flights airlines are permitted to operate; actual movements depend on factors such as travel demand and aircraft availability. Among major carriers, IndiGo, the Air India group, and Akasa are among those operating close to their approved schedules.“This is the first time in years that all four runways and three terminals at IGIA are operational. Hopefully, if airlines operate close to their approved schedules and there are no new infrastructure issues such as terminal closures or lack of CAT III on the main runway, as seen in recent years. Delhi will witness record aircraft movement,” an airline official told ToI.IGIA has a capacity to handle over 10 crore passengers annually and handled 7.8 crore in 2024. However, rating agency ICRA recently lowered its overall airport passenger traffic growth projection for FY 2026 to 5–7% year-on-year, the lowest since the pandemic, from an earlier estimate of 7–9%. It attributed this to cross-border tensions and reduced aircraft availability due to fleet inspections following the fatal crash in June 2025, which constrained passenger traffic growth over five months in FY 2026, ToI reported.With inputs from ToIAdd as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Read More News onIndira Gandhi International AirportDelhi airport winter scheduleaircraft movements IGIANoida International Airportaviation hub IndiaDelhi Airporticra (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onIndira Gandhi International AirportDelhi airport winter scheduleaircraft movements IGIANoida International Airportaviation hub IndiaDelhi Airporticra(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online....moreless
