Terminal 2 At Delhi Airport To Shut For 4-6 Months For Modernisation

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) announced on Friday (10 January) that Terminal 2 (T2) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) will undergo a temporary closure for four to six months during the next financial year (2025-26) for refurbishment.

The work, set to begin in FY 2025-26, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of the same financial year.

“The decades-old terminal will undergo significant upgrades aimed at elevating the passenger experience and increasing the airport's capacity to meet future growth demands,” DIAL said in a release.

To minimise disruptions, the newly expanded Terminal 1 (T1) will absorb the additional domestic flight load during T2’s closure.

“The temporary closure of Terminal 2 is expected to cause minimal disruption to operations, as the newly developed Terminal 1 will absorb the additional load, ensuring continued service to passengers,” the release added.

DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar emphasised the importance of the refurbishment.

“With the terminal's projected passenger capacity expected to reach its peak by FY 2025-26, these enhancements will be crucial in supporting the growing demand for air travel, particularly for domestic passengers,” he stated.

The refurbished T2 is projected to handle international flights by the winter of 2025-26. Currently, only Terminal 3 (T3) accommodates international flights at IGIA, but rising air traffic has created a capacity crunch.

India is the fastest-growing major aviation market globally, and while domestic capacity has been expanded with the upgrade of T1, international capacity constraints are expected as early as this fiscal year.

DIAL had proposed converting T2 into a temporary international terminal to address the immediate capacity issues, with plans for its eventual demolition to make way for a larger Terminal 4 (T4).

Jaipuriar outlined a phased strategy to meet international demand, including temporarily re-converting T2, converting one of T3’s domestic piers into an international one, and constructing T4 in the long term.

The refurbishment aims to modernise T2 and prepare it to handle the increasing demands of air travel, ensuring a seamless experience for passengers.

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