Travellers flying in and out of Delhi in the upcoming months might see a little turbulence in their plans as Delhi airport will be canceling almost 7.5% of its daily flights. For three months, from June 15 to September 15, the airport will be cancelling 114 daily flights, as the airport operator DIAL begins upgradation tasks on one of its runways.The runway, RW 10/28, will remain closed to allow for instrument landing system (ILS) enhancements. Once upgraded, the runway will be CAT III compliant, enabling safer operations during low-visibility conditions, especially in the fog-prone winter months.At present, Indira Gandhi International Airport handles around 1,450 flight movements per day, making it the country’s busiest. It operates four runways and two terminals (T1 and T3), while T2 remains closed for maintenance.The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said “we want to upgrade that runway to mitigate any issues or problems that we were facing, especially during the fog season. So for RW 10/28, there are two upgrades that we are going to do”Confirming the schedule at a press conference on Friday, he said, “RW 10/28 will not be operational from June 15 for a period of three months. We want to upgrade that runway to mitigate any issues or problems that we were facing, especially during the fog season.”Jaipuriar also clarified that the passengers are being notified in advance.“If you look at it from the right perspective, we have got 1,450 operations in a day. Out of that, about 114 operations are going to be impacted, which is 7.5%,” he explained.In total, 200 flights will be affected daily, with 114 cancelled and 86 rescheduled to non-peak hours, as part of the three-month adjustment. DIAL said the ILS installation would be completed by November 27, just ahead of the winter fog season.The earlier plan to shut RW 10/28 in April-May was abandoned due to heavy congestion and adverse weather. The revised schedule, now aligned with the civil aviation ministry’s directive, was finalised in consultation with airlines.DIAL, majority-owned by GMR Airports, said all slot adjustments were made in close coordination with carriers to minimise disruption. Representatives of several airlines were also present at the briefing to show consensus on the move.“Efforts have been made to ensure a balanced approach to maintain operational stability and minimise disruptions during the closure of RW 28/10,” Jaipuriar said.
