IGI Chaos: Closed Runway To Open After Delays & Mayhem

New Delhi: Massive flight delays at Indira Gandhi International Airport caused by a combination of the planned closure of the workhorse runway (10/28) from April 8 and unseasonal weather conditions have forced the airport authorities to rethink the closure. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the airport operator, will make runway 10/28 available for flight movement in about a fortnight.
With one runway closed, passengers have been facing delays whenever easterly winds blow — happening regularly so far this month — during which aircraft only land from Dwarka side and take off towards Vasant Vihar side. Delayed landing at IGI has a cascading effect on flights, and therefore airline schedules across their domestic and international network.
Runway 10/28 was closed to upgrade the instrument landing system (ILS). This work could now resume once the peak summer travel season ends around mid-June for 2-3 months. While the closure was planned taking into account all factors to minimise inconvenience to flyers, unseasonal easterlies have resulted in big delays.
On Friday, the aviation ministry met AAI, air traffic control, DIAL, airline representatives and other stakeholders. "When Indian carriers were told about their 100 daily arrivals in IGI cumulatively breaching the 32-an-hour capacity because of which over 70% of the flights need to be shifted and some cancelled, they protested saying they stood to lose close to Rs 1,000 crore doing so," said a source.
It was then decided that DIAL should make runway 10/28 available at the earliest so that all four runways are available for use during the remainder of this peak summer travel season. "Even without ILS, non-precision approach landings can take place. So in a fortnight, the closed runway will be made available for non-precision approaches. That will increase IGI's arrival capacity," said an airport insider.
Last Dec, DIAL had sought the aviation ministry's approval to close runway 10/28 from April 1 to ensure completion before foggy winter. IGI had seen serious delays and diversions in the winter of 2023-24 when the runway did not then have CAT III ILS on the Vasant Vihar side end and so couldn't handle landings in dense fog. The opposite (Dwarka side) end is supposed to get CAT IIIB ILS in the now-deferred upgrade.
Airports Authority of India reviewed the impact of closing the runway and saw that when easterlies blow, departures could take place from two runways (29 and 11L) but arrivals only on one (11R). When westerlies blow — which is usually the case this time of the year except 2025 so far — runway 27 can be used to handle both arrivals and departures and runway 29L and 29R used, respectively, for arrivals and departures. So depending on whether it's peak arrival or departure time, two runways can be allotted for either accordingly.
"Without runway 10/28, IGI can handle a maximum of upto 32 arrivals when easterlies blow and upto 42 when westerlies blow," explained an airport insider. "The domestic summer schedule of airlines was finalised based on easterlies blowing only from May 15 and they cutting/rescheduling flights from then only."
While DIAL shut down runway 10/28 from April 8, easterlies have been blowing right from the start of the month, much ahead of the expected mid-May timeline. In fact, on April 11, there was a strong thunderstorm with easterly winds reaching 74kmph. That day, air traffic control reiterated that IGI could handle only 32 arrivals when easterlies blew and 42 when westerlies did. April 11-12 alone saw over 400 flights being impacted.
"The early advent of easterlies has meant that almost 100 daily domestic arrivals of scheduled airlines at IGI happen in the hours where arrivals cross the maximum 32-arrivals-an-hour mark," said a source. Airlines were, therefore, asked to cut flights due to "excessive ground and airborne delays".
Runway 10/28 may now close around mid-June for the ILS upgrade. By then, hopefully airlines would have cut or rescheduled flights to meet the cap of upto 32 or 42 hourly arrivals and prevent delays. And if the 10/28 upgrade doesn't finish in time, even winter flights could prove exasperating for passengers just like this summer of discontent.