COVID-19 lockdown effect: Delhi airport evaluating consolidation of its terminals

Delhi airport operator DIAL is assessing post-lockdown domestic air traffic demand along with the airlines and evaluating if consolidation of terminals is required, it said on Friday.

Four days back, the Singapore government had announced that the Changi airport would close its Terminal 2 for 18 months from the beginning of next month, following a sharp drop in passenger traffic due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Delhi airport has three terminals while Singapore's Changi has four.

The GMR group-led Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL) clarified in a statement that it had no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works.

"DIAL is assessing the quantum of domestic demand along with the airlines, once the suspension of operations is lifted. Various options, including the potential of consolidating terminal operations, are being evaluated depending on the airline requirements as well as government notifications/advisories that may be issued from time to time," the airport operator said in its statement.

"Even during the ongoing suspension of commercial operations due to the lockdown, Delhi Airport continues to handle 25-30 operations per day - primarily cargo and evacuation flights. Also, as of now, there are no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works," the DIAL added.

India has imposed a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for the time period.

However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator DGCA are permitted to operate during the lockdown.