Delhi airport’s new terminal and the fourth runway will change into operational in September, Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal stated on Thursday.

The Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport will change into the one Indian airport to have 4 runways.

“September 2023 might be witness to Delhi airport getting a brand new terminal and the fourth runway changing into operational. The Indian aviation sector is rising quickly and we’re making ready for higher infrastructure and higher connectivity with a renewed give attention to innovation,” he stated.

The aviation secretary made the feedback on the EU-India Aviation Summit, which started right here on Thursday.

In keeping with officers conversant in the event, the fourth runway is anticipated to be round 4,400 metres lengthy and 75 metres broad. It’s barely smaller than the third runway (often known as 29/11).

“The fourth runway is anticipated to ease the strain of a probable rise in flight operations. The brand new runway will significantly minimize the ready time for flights to land and take off,” an official stated.

The brand new runway is a part of Part III-A of the Delhi airport’s enlargement plan. The unique deadline for the plan was mid-to-end 2022.

Delhi Worldwide Airport Restricted, a three way partnership majority-owned by the GMR Group, had in 2019 introduced an funding of Rs 9,800 crore to improve the prevailing Terminal 1, construct a fourth runway and for different improvement works to extend the airport’s capability to 100 million passengers a yr from 66 million now.

The work on the runway was affected because of the coronavirus, the official stated.

The EU-India Aviation Summit will give attention to EU-India air transport relations and the mutually shared challenges and alternatives such because the post-Covid restoration of air site visitors, rising sustainability, sustaining security and the event of unmanned plane methods.

The summit will deliver collectively top-level policymakers, business executives and stakeholders from each the European Union and India.

“There are a number of fronts on which India and the EU cooperate and this summit marks the start of that journey,” he stated.