DGCA, IIT audit findings put T2 on repair runway

DIAL halts plan to build Terminal 4

- DEEPAK PATEL

Delhi International Airport (DIAL), which operates and manages the airport in the national capital, has halted plans for a new Terminal 4 (T4) and will instead fast-track the refurbishment of the old Terminal 2 (T2) after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and IIT Madras audits flagged issues with its apron and boarding bridges.

DIAL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Videh Kumar Jaipuriar revealed this in a January meeting with aviation stakeholders, Business Standard has learnt.

These audit findings have come to light just months after the collapse of Terminal 1's (T1's) canopy at Delhi Airport, which resulted in the death of a 45-year-old cab driver, Ramesh Kumar, and left at least eight others injured.

Last month, the newspaper reported that a DGCA-appointed expert committee—comprising two professors from IIT Delhi and one from IIT Jammu—found that flawed design, poor workmanship, inadequate maintenance, and major discrepancies between design and construction were likely key factors in the canopy collapse.

Delhi Airport has three terminals: T1 with a capacity of 40 million passengers per year, T2 with 15 million, and Terminal 3 (T3) with 45 million.

According to DIAL's 2016 master plan, T2 was to be demolished and replaced by T4, designed to handle 40 million passengers annually.

However, the collapse of T1's canopy and subsequent investigations have disrupted this plan.