The national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport will soon sport a dedicated terminal for private jets by early next year, a senior company official has said.
The GMR Group's Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has "concessioned-out" the project to build the terminal and other facilities which are expected to be ready by January 2020.
DIAL is a consortium led by the GMR Group along with the Airports Authority of India. It has been mandated to operate and manage the IGIA.
"We are fast progressing with the development of new general aviation facilities, these comprise aircraft parking stands, hangar and a Fixed Based Operator (FBO) terminal facility," a senior DIAL company official told IANS here.
"The construction of aircraft parking stands is nearing completion and these will be commissioned post the necessary approvals by early 2020."
Globally, FBO facilities aide in the expansion of general aviation services at busy airports around the world as they provide designated terminal for users of private jets and charter flights.
Besides the FBO, DIAL has already kicked off the next phase of expansion at the IGIA. This phase is expected to enable IGIA to handle 100 million passenger per annum (MPPA) in the next three years.
An estimated Rs 9,800-crore is being spent on the expansion plan which envisions an enhanced air-side capacity to handle around 140 million passengers.
Additionally, the expansion drive will make IGIA as the only airport in India to have four runways.
The project under Phase 3A is expected to be ready by June 2022. The new air-side infrastructure, such as the dual elevated eastern cross taxiways, will be constructed in this phase.
Another key feature of the plan is the new integrated Terminal 1 with 40 million passenger handling capacity. The integrated terminal will have several passenger-friendly facilities, such as facial recognition system and aero bridges.
Furthermore, the company has conducted feasibility studies to have an 'automated people mover' installed at the airport complex.
Many large international airport complexes have such a facility, which makes it easier for passengers to catch connecting flights from different terminals.
At present, various types of short-distance travel solution system such as driverless monorail are being used globally.
On the city-side, a flyover at Aerocity metro station junction would be constructed to reduce travel time from T1 to T3.