‘12’ Amazing Facts About Indira International Airport

When it comes to travel through an airport, every single passenger wants a relaxing and smooth experience without many hurdles. So choosing the best of all is the perfect way to go.

Talking about India, IGIA i.e. Indira Gandhi International Airport is the busiest and consider as the best airport in India. But there are probably a number of facts which are still unknown about the airport. This gives curiosity to the multiple passengers to know more about the different details of the airport. Here we are discussing some of the little unknown facts about the Indira International Airport, Delhi.

Point 1: IGI supports million of passengers per year:

The airport supports more than 40 million passengers and serves more in more than 58 domestic and 62 international destinations and this was for the session 2014 to 2015.

Point 2: IGIA handles much more than expected:

When it comes to the operations of IGIA, the airport supports a wide range of operations which include handling six domestic carriers along with 56 international carriers. It also supports the services of the gigantic Airbus A380 aircraft.

Point 3: Earlier IGI was operated by the Indian Air Force:

Before transferring Airports Authority of India, the airport was operated by the Indian Air Force. Later in the year 2006, the management of the airport was passed over to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) till present.

Point 4: IGIA supports Advanced Airport Collaborative Decision Making:

The Delhi International Airport also uses an advanced system called Airport Collaborative Decision Making also called A-CDM which helps in keeping the take-offs and landings timely and predictable.

Point 5: IGI is the India’s largest aviation hub:

With the starting of operations at Terminal 3 in the year 2010, the Indira Gandhi International Airport became India’s and South Asia’s largest aviation hub. It supports a capacity of more than 62 million passengers and is ready to expand this figure to 100 million passengers by the year 2030. In the year 2014, the airport was among the top 30 busiest airports in the world and handled 39.7 million passengers and in the same year, the airport registered a 7.8 percent growth in traffic over the previous year.

Point 6: IGI is the “carbon neutral” airport.

Point 7: A number of Awards and Honors for IGI:

  • In the year 2010, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was selected as the fourth best airport in the world for the category of 15 to 25 million passenger carrier.
  • Along with that, the airport also won the Best Improved Airport in the Asia-Pacific Region by the Airports Council International.
  • After that in 2015 also, the airport was rated as the Best airport in the world in the 25-40 million passengers category by Airports Council International.
  • IGI also bagged two awards for The Best Airport in Central Asia/India.
  • Apart from that, it also won the award for Best Airport Staff in Central Asia/India at the prestigious Skytrax World Airport Awards 2015.
  • In 2015 only, IGI won the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ which was given by the Institute of Directors.

Point 8: Commendable performance of IGI:

The Delhi International airport scored a very good score i.e. 4.90 on a scale of 5 points as measured by the ACI ASQ benchmarking programme, including 300 members.

Point 9: Target to serve 100 million passengers per year:

IGI recently introduced three new terminals which will only host international flights. The Indira Gandhi International Airport terminal 3 caters domestic air traffic only. Moreover, after the completion of these new terminals, it is expected to increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity to 100 million.

Point 10: IGI airport is huge than it seems:

Spread over an area of 5,106 acres, the airport becomes the largest in India and also the largest aviation hub of South Asia which comes to around 2,066 hectares. As per these figures, it is equivalent to almost 4,000 football fields.

Point 11: Supports a Number of Airlines:

IGI supports the operations of 80 different airlines to a number of destinations for numerous Indian carriers and this includes Air India, Air India Regional, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir, Vistara and other major Indian and International Airlines.

Point 12: 1st Airport to be registered under UNFCCC:

IGI Airport has become the very first airport in the world to be registered under UNFCCC i.e. Clean Development Mechanism of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The airport supports a 7.84 MW solar plant which has been installed alongside runway 29/11 and is targeted to generate up to 20MW by the year 2020.