First commercial flight docks at T3

New Delhi: An Air India flight from New York on Wednesday became the first commercial flight to arrive at the swanky new Terminal-3 (T3) at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) that left passengers rubbing their eyes in disbelief at its glitzy look. The new T3 received its first batch of travellers when Air India's flight AI-102 from New York landed in the national capital Wednesday noon to witness the leap Indian aviation infrastructure has taken with the addition of this terminal.
Many passengers said they had never seen or expected such state-of-the-art facilities at an Indian airport terminal.
The sixth largest passenger terminal in the world was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 3 at a colourful function attended by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The Air India flight, though commercial in nature, was a part of an operational drill called 'terminal proving flights' which are meant to sort out any operational or technical glitches in the terminal.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) authorities pushed back the initial operations start date by 14 days to July 28 to provide more time to all stakeholders to deal with any glitches, including setting up of airline offices, synchronising security procedures, baggage handling and the whole range of airport operations.
14/07/10 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Airports Jul 2010, New Jul 2010