Delhi: IGI airport’s runway 28/10 opens for operations on May 6

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport will resume operations with all four runways from Tuesday, airport officials said, adding that the non-operational runway will be functional before noon.

“Runway 28/10 was cleared for operations by the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) on Monday. Flights will land as per schedule before noon,” an airport official said.

Massive flight delays causing severe inconvenience to passengers prompted Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu to pause the work.

The runway was shut on April 8 to upgrade its Instrument Landing System (ILS) to CAT III B standards, which enable operations in dense fog. The lighting system was also being extended from 650m to 900m.

But by April 11, the airport began facing major delays, pointing to poor planning and unfavourable easterly winds. With all four runways operational, IGI can handle up to 90 flights an hour. Under westerly winds, capacity drops to 74. With Runway 28/10 shut and easterly conditions prevailing, arrival capacity plunged further, triggering cascading delays.

The disruption affected VIP movement and prompted a parliamentary standing committee to seek an explanation from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). This led to an urgent meeting chaired by the minister with AAI, DGCA, airlines, and the CISF, where the decision was taken to pause work until the peak summer rush ends.

ILS installations by AAI will continue as they are away from the runway and don’t affect operations. The rest of the upgrade work is scheduled to resume on June 15, with the upgraded runway expected to be fully functional by September 15.

A former DGCA official said a final inspection ensures that all safety parameters are met before operations resume.