IGI runway works set to be halted as delays fail to abate

The civil aviation ministry is likely to direct the Delhi airport to pause the ongoing work on one of its runways that has been blamed as a key factor behind massive flight delays and operational disruptions over the past two weeks, officials familiar with the development said.

An advisory committee meeting called on Friday discussed the scheduling chaos and there was consensus on a pause. “The advisory committee had a meeting on Friday, and it has been decided that the runway work at Delhi airport should be temporarily suspended,” one of the officials told HT.

The director general of civil aviation and the ministry of civil aviation are likely to sign off on the halt soon, following which a formal direction will be issued.

The suspension is likely to come into effect within “the next 10–12 days and may resume after the peak summer travel season, in the third week of June, which in aviation is considered a lean period,” the second official said, adding that “an official order on the same is yet to be issued.”

The committee overseeing the decision comprises various stakeholders, including the airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and airline representatives.

Delhi airport shut runway 28/10 from April 8 – a move it had announced in February --- to facilitate an upgrade of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) to CAT III B standards—an enhancement aimed at enabling operations in low-visibility conditions, which are common during Delhi’s fog-laden winters.

A senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the closure of Runway 28/10 had significantly impacted operations. “The airport is seeing delays of at least an hour. This is because Runway 28/10, which is shut for upgradation, is very crucial for the smooth functioning of airport operations,” the official said.

The official explained that the technical configuration of the runways has left the airport essentially operating on only one runway for arrivals.

Delhi airport manages over 1,200 flights daily and operates four runways: 27/09, 28/10 (both older runways), 29L/11R, and 29R/11L, with the newest runway becoming operational in 2023. On a typical day, the airport handles up to 46 arrivals per hour. However, with Runway 28/10 currently closed, that number has dropped to barely 36 arrivals per hour, officials say.

The nearly two-week crisis has exposed critical gaps in India’s aviation ecosystem, particularly the absence of a regulatory mechanism that can enforce necessary adjustments during planned infrastructure work at critical hubs like Delhi.

HT has learnt that despite being informed well in advance about the runway closure, airlines did not reduce their flight operations—a crucial step that could have potentially mitigated the chaos. A third person aware of the matter confirmed that while Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) informed carriers about the maintenance work, it lacks the authority to mandate schedule adjustments.

“DIAL can only inform and ask airlines to start preparing, they have no authority over them,” a senior aviation official familiar with the matter told HT, adding that such a scenario needs the regulator to step in to enforce adjustments.

Experts concurred with this assessment.

“The airport operator, as per the Standard Operating Procedure, discusses their plan with all its stakeholders. The airlines should have trimmed their flight operations for the period to avoid the disruptions,” said Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety expert.

He added, “The runway closure was planned for four to five months, which is a lot of time. The situation would have been doable if the DGCA, as the regulator authority, when discussions of the runway were in process, had revisited the summer schedule and probably come up with a revised one.”

None of the airlines responded to requests for a comment on any scheduling tweaks. One of the airline’s representatives said no changes had been made to schedules but “operations were being monitored live”.

A fourth person, a former airport official, when asked if the timing of the runway closure could have been better, said the idea is often to complete such work before monsoon. “The period of March sees no visibility issue and is also considered a lean period, considering Indian travellers typically fly as per school and college vacation period. Having said that, May and June months often see disturbance in weather, and this is not new for an aviation professional. The planning authorities therefore should have planned it better.”

To be sure, the upgrade work in all is expected to take four to five months.

Another former AAI official suggested that the authorities could have planned installation of ILS at runway 28/10 individually rather than on both sides. “ILS installations take time and also need DGCA approvals. However, the situation is a result of failure from not one but all the stakeholders,” he said.

The issue also caught the attention of the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture on Thursday. HT reported on Friday that the discussions during the parliamentary meeting found a ripple effect across India’s aviation network.

In Friday’s advisory committee meeting, officials also discussed the possibility of completing the expansion of the runway lighting system sooner so that runway 10 could be made available for operations. “The runway lighting system is being extended from 650m to 900m. There were suggestions that if DIAL could complete this work sooner, then runway 10 could be made available for operations. However, this expansion work too would need a couple of months,” an official added.