Delhi Airport To Cancel Over 100 Daily Flights Till September For Runway Work

As many as 114 arrival and departure flights at Delhi Airport — one of the world's busiest air hubs — will be cancelled between June 15 and September 15 as the airport operator is set to resume crucial runway upgrades.

With the airport handling 1,450 aircraft movements per day, the average flight cancellation due to reduced capacity is about 7.5%, according to Videh Jaipuriar, chief executive officer of Delhi International Airport Ltd.

"A normal operating day sees about 3–4% cancellations, so the impact is likely to be minimal this time unlike last time when we hadn't done rescheduling," he said on Friday. "We are working with airlines to adjust slots and reschedule flights in advance to avoid passenger disruptions."

Additionally, another 86 flights a day will be moved from peak hours to non-peak hours to keep congestion in check at the airport, he said.

DIAL, which is majority-owned by GMR Airports, said the work on Runway 10/28 would take place to upgrade a system that helps aircraft land safely in low-visibility conditions, equipping it to better manage operations during the winter-fog spells.

The work was originally scheduled for April–May, but it had to be halted due to lack of plan and unexpected changes in wind patterns that disrupted flight operations, causing delays.

Amid public outcry at the time, the Ministry of Civil Aviation intervened and asked DIAL to operationalise the runway and put off the upgradation works by a few weeks to let the peak summer travel season pass.

DIAL CEO expects the upgradation to be completed before the October–December festival season kicks off as it is immediately followed by winters, when fog-related disruptions are a regular affair at the Delhi airport.

"During the fog season, the arrival capacity of all runways comes down due to safety concerns, as arriving aircraft have to be spaced out," Jaipuriar said. However, the efficiency will improve once the upgrade is complete.

"Every hour of fog disruption takes three hours for us to return to normal operations," he said. This becomes much worse with easterly winds, where every hour of disruption takes six hours to recover. "This impacts not just Delhi but all nearby airports in the region. Therefore, we decided to upgrade Runway 10/28 and make it compliant with CAT III-B operations."

Jaipuriar also acknowledged the growing impact of shifting weather patterns on airport operations. "We are conducting a study as part of our climate change mitigation plan. This kind of erratic weather behaviour is intensifying year on year. Based on the findings, we will formulate a comprehensive mitigation strategy," he said.

Delhi Airport has four runways — 09/27, 11R/29L, 11L/29R and 10/28 — and two operational terminals — T1 and T3. T2 is currently closed for maintenance works.