India can boast of having the second largest airport terminal in the world when the third terminal building at the Indira Gandhi International airport (IGIA) here comes up in 2010.

The terminal building alone will come up on 20 acres of land, with the entire seven-storey structure providing a total space of about 5,20,000 square metres and having a capacity of handling 34 million passengers a year.

The Terminal-3 or T3 of IGIA would be the second largest after the new terminal T3 at the Beijing Capital International airport (BCIA), constructed before the recent Olympics, which has a total floor area of 9,86,000 square metres.

Giving details of the mega project underway at the Delhi airport, CEO (Airport Development) of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) Prabhakar Rao said: "Our focus is on three Ms -- men, material and machinery. That is helping us giving shape to this major project."

In an interview to PTI, he said several factories were functioning at the project site, producing materials ranging from concrete and steel pipes to air-conditioning ducts. "Almost a thousand trucks bring in bulk materials like steel, stones and bricks every night to the site, without disturbing traffic anywhere on the near by national highway."

Deadline challenges

Maintaining that it was a "challenge" for DIAL to complete the mega project in the stipulated time of 37 months, Rao said major airports like Changi in Singapore took 76 months for completion, while Heathrow's T5 and Beijing's new terminal took 60 months. IGIA's T3, which would be able to handle the largest aircraft Airbus A-380, is expected to be completed by March 2010, ahead of the Commonwealth Games. About 24,000 workers belonging to 44 contractors are working day and night to build the integrated terminal which will cater to 34 million domestic and international passengers every year. Also, on the 24x7 job are about 100 foreign experts, who are racing against time to meet the deadline.

Maintaining that Delhi fell in the high damage risk or Zone IV of quake-prone area, the DIAL airport CEO said "Keeping in mind the occurrence of earthquakes here, we are constructing the building to meet the requirements of a higher risk level, that of Zone V or very high damage risk." He said the new steel and glass terminal would be an environment-friendly "green building", which would have complete natural lighting, an intelligent air conditioning system and efficient waste-water treatment facility.

The building needs a massive 2,50,000 square metres of air-conditioning ducts, which when kept in a straight line would cover a distance of 500 kilometres, Rao said.

As various aspects of the construction process were going on parallel in order to save on time, "we have asked the selected bidder, ETA of Dubai, to set up a plant in the country." And "now India's largest air-conditioning duct manufacturing plant is functional at the site," Rao said, adding that the chillers were being imported from the US.

78 aerobridges, 168 check in counters

The four piers of the terminal building would have 78 aerobridges, six exclusively for big planes such as Airbus A-380, for boarding and disembarking. Each pier would be about 1.2 kilometres long but the passengers would not need to walk as they can reach their boarding gate by any of the 98 travelators, Rao said.

Also for the convenience of the passengers, there would be 168 check-in counters, 49 immigration counters, 48 emigration counters and a 61-room hotel, apart from various lounges.

The terminal would also have an intelligent car parking facility for 15,000 cars -- 6,000 at Multi-level car parking (MLCP) and 9,000 at surface level.

The MLCP would be a fully automated one, from generation of parking slip to allotment of slot, no person would be required but still people could park their vehicle without a hassle, the DIAL CEO said.

Ambitious growth plans


Video from wdp4 on YouTube.

The promoters DIAL have chalked out very ambitious growth plans for the airport, calling for new terminals T4, T5, and T6 over the next 20 years. As per the IGIA website the time-table for the airport is :

New Terminal Building (T3)

T3 Project (New Runway and Associated Taxiways Completion by 15th August, 2008)

1.Construction of new code F(A380 Compatible) Runway (11R/29L) of length 4430 mt with CAT IIIB Airfield lighting
2.A Parallel taxiway two cross field taxiways
3. 10 No. Additional remote stands for T2

Phase 1B
T3 Project (New Integrated Passenger Terminal Building and associated works Completion by 31-Mar-2010)

1.Construction of New Terminal building of capacity 27 MPPA, area of 4.4 Million Sq.Ft ,55 Contact stands,16 remote stands, piers, fixed links and aerobridges.
2.Aircraft parking stands for contact and remote stands.
3.Cargo expansion
4.Additional maintenance hangars
5.New GSE areas
6.Fuel farm expansion
7.Expansion of the existing Sewerage treatment plan
8.Providing a Multi level & surface car park
9.Metro Connectivity
10.New landside roads & up gradation of existing road system
11.Expansion of the existing Catering facilities
12.Provision for GA facilities

Phase 2 (2012)
1.Additional remote stands near T3
2.Cargo expansion
3.New flight forwarders area near cargo
4.Additional parking stands for cargo
5.New central transportation corridor
6.Catering facility expansion
7.Additional MRO

Phase 3 (2016)
1.New terminal T4
2.Expansion of T3 including piers
3.Contact stands for T4
4.New runway (11L/29R)
5.Parking facilities in front of T4
6.New ATC tower and complex
7.Cargo expansion
8.Fuel farm expansion
9.GSE area expansion
10.MRO expansion
11.Catering facilities expansion

Phase 4 (2021)
1.New Terminal T5 (Low cost)
2.Expansion of T3 and T4 piers and concourses
3.Remote stands for T5
4.New straightened runway 09/27
5.Cargo facilities at north (relocated)
6.Additional GA facilities·
7.Additional MRO·
8.New fire station·
9.Catering facility expansion·
10.Landside developments in front of T4 & T5 including parking
11.New metro station
12.Fuel farm expansion
13.GSE expansion

Saturation phase (2026)
1.New Terminal T6·
2.New pier for T5 & contact stands
3.Additional MRO
4.Catering facilities expansion
5.GSE expansion
6.Cargo expansion

The volatility in aviation turbine fuel (ATR) has triggered GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) to change gear from aero to non-aero operations.

Currently, revenues from aero operations contribute to three quarters of us total revenues. The rest comes turn non-aero operations. GHAIL is looking at reversing this ratio to offset the turbulence in global ATF prices. It is trying to emulate best practices adopted by some of the leading international airports in the world such as Memphis airport, which get a large chunk of their revenues from non-aero operations.

As part of its new strategy, the airport is exploring a tie-up with Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Agency (APEDA) and freighter companies to enhance revenues from this segment according to a senior official in GMR.

“Our teams have gone to Memphis airport In the US, the global cargo centre, to study the cargo operation models. They will submit a detailed report after studying other airports in the US and Europe in the coming three months. We will rope in a consultant to design a plan to take the idea forward,” he said. With the presence of Federal Exchange and the largest cornea bank in the world, Memphis airport is the nerve centre of cargo operations across the world. For instance, 5,000 faulty laptops are brought to Memphis each day and airlifted overnight after repair at the airport. The GHIAL is exploring such a model here.
The airport will also open a separate website to facilitate banking transactions and cargo operations online. The Greenfield airport in Hyderabad has seen a drastic dip in air transport movements (ATM5) during the last few months due to the volatility in prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

The airport had 260 to 270 ATMs a day in Jun-08. This has dropped to 210-220 in August, leading to a dip of 50 ATMs a day. Several airlines planning to start new trips have also defined their plans. “British Air for instance, has postponed new trips from Hyderabad from October to December this year said a GMR official

‘According to him, the airport expects a 15% increase in passenger traffic this year against 35% last year “ATF sale volumes have also come down from 800-850 kilo liters a day to 500 kilo liters a day in August” he said. Although the state-owned oil marketing companies cut ATF prices by over 16% on Sunday, this may not translate into cheaper airfares. The airport currently records eight million passengers a year and it is forecast to reach l2 million by20l0.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.