IGI to start operation from terminal T3 after lockdown ends

NEW DELHI: All arrangements are being made at Indira Gandhi International Airport to resume flight operations as soon as the government gives a go-ahead. To ensure safety of the passengers all flights will take off from terminal T3 only. To avoid crowding, the flight operators will be assigned separate entry gates, self-check-in machines and check-in bays.  To increase the safety of passengers and airport staff, all luggage will be passed through disinfectant tunnels during both in and out bound journeys. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) which runs the airport has chalked out a plan to use “ultraviolet disinfection tunnels” to sanitise items of baggage.

“We will start with T3 and open another terminal as the traffic picks up,” said a senior official of DIAL. As per the plan, IndiGo and Vistara airlines will be assigned entry gates 1 and 2 and check-in rows A, B and C while AirAsia India and Air India will be assigned gates 3 and 4 and check-in row D, E and F. Spice Jet and Go Air passengers can enter from gate no. 5 and use check-in rows G and H. All other domestic airlines will also be assigned gate no. 5 and will be assigned row H for check-ins.

All international airlines’ will be assigned gate no. 6, 7 and 8 and check-in rows J, K, L and M. DIAL is also preparing stringent standard operation procedures (SOPs) for shops inside the airport to ensure social distancing. The shop operator will promote digital payments, digital menus, and it will also encourage the use of self-ordering kiosks at the food court.

To ensure government made regulation of social distancing, queues will also be aligned for Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits will be provided.

Social distancing markings will be there at all queues and seating areas and sanitisers will be provided to passengers after both security and immigration procedures.

To provide safe transport outside the airport, SOPs is being worked upon to disinfect the cabs, and the same SOPs are being drafted for metro and private vehicles.