Everything You Need To Know About The Delhi Airport!
Frequent flyers travelling to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi have made this airport their second home.
From having breakfast and relaxing during pit-stops to shopping at duty-free and airplane spotting, this technologically advanced airport has served weary travellers well.
Yet, most of us are unaware about the years of planning that has gone in building this facility to make air travel a breeze.
So, let us look at how this modern marvel came into being and what it has achieved.
History
The main airport for Delhi till 1962 was the Safdarjung airport which was built in 1930.
Due to increasing air passenger traffic at Safdarjung, the operations were shifted to the Palam Airport which was known as the Royal Air Force (RAF) Airport during the British rule.
In the 1970’s, the air passenger traffic at the Palam airport increased to 1300 passengers per hour and continued to grow at a fast rate.
Owing to this, a new terminal was built which was 4 times the size of the old Palam airport by the early 1980’s and on 2nd May 1986, the Palam Airport was renamed as Indira Gandhi International Airport.
In 2006 the Aviation Minister, Mr. Praful Patel, decided to sell the management rights to the Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) which comprises of the GMR Group (64 % Stake), Fraport (10% Stake) and Airports Authority Of India(26 % Stake).
This move gave DIAL the opportunity to make the IGIA an ultra-modern airport and since then they have been continuously improving and adding world-class facilities to it.
Awards & Recognitions
1. At the Skytrax World Airport Awards in 2015, Delhi Airport was given the award for “The Best Airport in Central Asia/India” and “Best Airport Staff in Central Asia/India”.
2. It won the award for the “Best Airport” and “Best Airport Service Quality”, in the 25–40 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category, which was given by the Airports Council International(ACI) in 2015.
3. The Delhi International Airport Limited won the ‘Golden Peacock Award’ for Corporate Social Responsibility under the Aviation category for the year 2016.
4. As per Airports Council International (ACI) ASQ 2016 rankings, IGI was proclaimed as the world’s second best airport in over 40 MPPA category.
5. It was also recognised as Asia-Pacific’s first airport to achieve a carbon neutral status at ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate presentation ceremony in 2016.
6. In 2017, Delhi Airport won the ‘Best Airport’ award from the Airports Council International along with Mumbai International Airport in the over 40 MMPA category.
Interesting Facts About The Delhi Airport
1) The airport was operated by the Indian Air Force before its management was transferred to DIAL.
2) Delhi Airport was the first airport in the country to implement Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) system to help keep a track and improve predictability of take-offs and landings.
3) Terminal 3 at The IGIA has been constructed using the “North Light” concept where the natural light comes from the blue sky and not directly from the sun.
4) IGI airport is spread over an area of 5,106 acres, which is equal to the area covered by 4000 football fields.
5) The mudra installations inside IGIA have been collaboratively designed by Indian industrial design firm Incubis Consultants, U.S.-based branding company Landor Associates and Jaipur-based designer Ayush Kasliwal.
6) Delhi Airport is one of the few airports in the world which is capable of handling the giant Airbus A380 aircraft.
7) DIAL has drafted an expansion plan which includes the construction of Terminals 4, 5 and 6 by 2030. The three terminals will cater to international travellers only. This will increase the airport annual passenger capacity to 100 million.
Delhi airport is one of the best examples of how far we have come in terms of cultural and infrastructure growth. Hopefully, with the governments UDAN scheme being implemented in full force, airports in India will be able to compare themselves to the likes of Delhi and Mumbai airport.
If you want to know more about things to do at the Delhi airport, look no further. Download the AirWhizz app and get information about different places to eat, shop & relax at the Delhi Airport along with real-time flight updates the next time you fly.
