Domestic flights landing at Delhi airport have to taxi for about 45 minutes to reach the domestic terminal area. It takes less time to fly down from Delhi to Jaipur.
Last year Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) became the country's busiest, overtaking Mumbai. The airport handles 700-720 flights a day, which means aircraft have to hover above IGIA during peak hours, waiting in queue to land.
The airport got a third runway in September 2008, to help ease congestion, but it created a new problem. The runway is located at a considerable distance from the domestic terminals and domestic flights landing at Runway 29 have to taxi 9 kms — the distance between AIIMS flyover and Nizamuddin Bridge — to reach their bays.
“After my flight landed at the airport, it spent more than half an hour in just taxiing,” said S.K. Tanwar, a government official. “While the airport has improved in other aspects, this is a new problem.”
The closure of IGIA's main runway 28 for repairs, which is closer to domestic terminals, has sealed the option of it being used for some landings. It is expected to open by September this year.
09/05/10 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times
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