Aviation: Delhi airport flight disruptions likely; IGI airport to close one runway for 13 days

Flights are likely to be disrupted at the Delhi airport in the national capital as one of the runways will be closed for repair work for as many as 13 days, according to an official statement. According to an Air India official, around 200 domestic flight departures and arrivals are likely to be affected by the runway closure. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by DIAL, is the busiest aerodrome in the country and has three runways. Runway 27/09 would be closed for "preventive repairs" next month while two other runways -- 11/29 and 10/28 -- would be operational.  Runway disruption will start from November 15.  

Delhi airport handled 63.5 million passengers in 2017-18. The airport has around 1,300 flight movements every day. In a statement, DIAL said it was planning the closure of runway 27/09 to carry out preventive repairs. "The works are scheduled to be undertaken for 13-day duration starting from November 15, 2018. This will lower the capacity of IGI Airport by 50 arrivals and 50 departures per day in this duration," a DIAL spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said these works are essential for safe aircraft operations and to avoid sudden disruptions that cause greater impact due to time required for planning the logistics. A spokesperson for Vistara said the airline has decided to cancel as well as re-schedule some flights during the runway closure period.

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is a consortium led by the GMR group. Other stakeholders are the government-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Germany's Fraport.