HC upholds DIAL's order to partially shift ops of 3 airlines from T1 to T2

HC extended the deadline till February15 from January 4 for shifting the operations of Indigo, GoAir and Spicejet

The Delhi High Court today upheld the decision of airport operator DIAL to partially shift the operations of Indigo, GoAir and Spicejet from Terminal 1 to T2 at the IGI Airport here.

A bench of Justice A K Chawla, however, extended till February 15 next year the January 4 deadline for the airlines to shift their operations.

The high court had on December 4 reserved its verdict on low-cost carrier IndiGo's plea against the decision of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to partially shift its operations along with that of two other airlines, SpiceJet and GoAir, from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2.

In its plea, the airline had challenged DIAL's communication of October 21, asking the three air carriers to shift their flights to and from Delhi to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, to T2 from January 4, 2018.

All other flights of the airlines shall continue to operate from T1, the airport operator had said.

IndiGo had challenged DIAL's decision on the ground that partial shifting of its operations would inconvenience passengers, especially those on hopping flights emanating or ending at those sectors, as T1 and T2 are not connected.

Defending its decision, the DIAL had said that T1 has already exceeded its capacity and if airline operations were not shifted partially, it would lead to overcrowding of the airport.

It also contended that in case of a fire or a terror threat, an overcrowded airport would have serious consequences for which the DIAL alone would be answerable.

The airport operator said its decision was not unreasonable as it had given the airlines enough time to arrive at a consensus.

IndiGo was opposed to the shifting of its operations, saying if the decision of the DIAL was allowed, the airline would be spread across T1, T2 and T3.

The central government had supported DIAL's move and contended that IndiGo's plea was not maintainable.