Delhi airport handles a record 1,044 flights on Wednesday

Before Wednesday, highest number ie 1,026 flights, of daily movements at Delhi was in aftermath of Nepal earthquake in April

Delhi airport handled 1,044 flights, the highest till date, on Wednesday as airlines add new frequencies.

Before Wednesday the highest number of daily movements at Delhi was in the aftermath of Nepal earthquake in April (1,026 flights) and on India-Pakistan cricket world cup match day in April 2011 (1022 flights).

This is also the highest number of flights handled daily by any airport in India.

On an average Delhi airport handles about 950 flights daily with about 74 hourly movements. Mumbai airport which is the second busiest in the country handles about 820 flights daily with an average 40 movements each hour.

"Of the 1,044 flights, 70 were of charter and private planes and 17 belonged to military aircraft and helicopters. The rest were scheduled airline movements," an air traffic official said.

Delhi International Airport Limited did not respond to a query on the topic. Delhi handled 41 million passengers last year. Sixty seven percent of the passenger traffic was domestic (27.5 million) and the rest was international traffic.

Delhi Airport has three runways and all three of them are in operation simultaneously. One of them (number 29) is used for both dual use - arrivals and departures.

Of the other two runways one is used for arrival (number 27) and another departure (number 28). Air traffic controllers maintain a three mile separation between departing and arriving planes in the vicinity of the airport.