Delhi airport T1 reopens to mixed response

New Delhi

The Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 (T1) reopened on Tuesday, after a part of its canopy collapsed due to a heavy downpour that left one dead and many people injured on June 28 last year, with travellers appreciating the upgrades undertaken in the interim and for smooth conduct of operations.

However, there remained some teething problems with baggage processing and conveyor belts that necessitated manual processes to be undertaken, officials said.

Airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said that the baggage check-in process was slow for a brief period. However, recurring baggage belt malfunctions later in the day led to some flights getting delayed.

After posting that “flight operations were not affected” in its first post on social media, DIAL said in a second statement around 5.45pm on X: “We are currently experiencing intermittent baggage check-in system issues at Terminal 1. This has already been escalated to the global OEM for urgent resolution. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our passengers. We are working with all stakeholders to resolve the issue on priority.”

With the revamp, the total area of T1 has increased more than thrice, from 55,740 square metres earlier to 206,950 sqm. It combines both arrivals and departures under one roof, in contrast to separate buildings T1 (D) and T1 (C) used earlier. The Indira Gandhi International Airport handles around 1,300 flight movements daily.

Other features added to T1 include a facial recognition system (Digiyatra) at all entry gates, 108 common usage self-service (CUSS) kiosks for check-in and self-service, 10 baggage reclaim carousels, each 70 metres long, and increased baggage handling capacity from 3,240 to 6,000 bags per hour.

Meanwhile, passengers complained about the delays and problems with their check-in baggage, as flight operators informed domestic travellers that their baggage would be delivered on the next available flight.

“Took a flight from Delhi to Dehradoon, arrived 1.5 hours late. Funny thing: the pilot announced there would be a delay because they had to load the luggage. On reaching, majority of passengers discovered their luggage is still in Delhi,” a user named Aryan posted on X.

IndiGo airlines, in a message to fliers, said passengers may experience “slightly longer wait time during check-in and while collecting baggage upon arrival”.

Shreyas Ganatra, another flier, posted on X, “Agree it was a technical glitch which will happen once the system is overloaded by 5 to 10 times in a day. It would have been better to gradually shift over a two week period so that any glitches are ironed out.”

With T1 becoming fully operational after nine months, repairs at T2 were started and it is set to be shut for three to four months. T2 handles approximately 270-280 air traffic movements a day and caters to over 46,000 passengers daily, primarily fliers using Akasa Air and IndiGo airlines, both of which shifted to T1 on Tuesday.

Some fliers appreciated the ease of access and inter-terminal movement.

Flier Hitanshu Gandhi said, “Extremely proud of Delhi Airport. Very seamless transition from T2 to T1 with lots of cooperation from multiple agencies. The terminal doesn’t feel crowded either.”

With the transition being completed, the Delhi airport is India’s only airport to have the capacity to handle over 100 million passengers annually. While T1 can accommodate 40 million passengers per year, T2 can hold 15 million, and T3 45 million passengers per year, airport officials said.