T3 to remain India's largest for 8 yrs

New Delhi: The Terminal 3 (T3) of the Delhi airport, the largest in the country, which completed one year of operation last month, will continue to carry the largest tag for about eight years, as the operator does not see the need for expansion of the airport.
“We will not have to go for expansion for at least five to eight years, as the existing capacity will be able to match passenger growth,” said a GMR spokesperson, who did not want to be identified.
The Delhi airport is operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd, a joint venture company led by the GMR Group, along with state-owned Airports Authority of India, Germany’s Fraport and Malaysian Airport Holdings.
Currently, the airport has a capacity of handling 60 million passengers annually. It can be raised to 100 million by building two more terminals in phases.
T3, which alone can handle 34 million passengers a year, is the eighth-largest passenger terminal in the world in terms of size. The Delhi airport shot into limelight after the inauguration of T3 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2010.
In 2007, the GMR-led consortium had bagged the contract for T3. The launch of T3, coupled with improved service after being taken over by a private operator, has made the Delhi airport the fourth best in the world in the category of annual passenger handling between 25 and 40 million.
15/08/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Categories: airports aug 2011