Delhi's Terminal 3 Opening Delayed By IT Issue

Airports

Aviation Daily Jul 08 , 2010 , p. 02
Neelam Mathews

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DIAL) has delayed the opening of Terminal 3 for international flights from July 15 to July 28 and domestic flights from the end of July to Aug. 27, in part due to information technology (IT) problems that The DAILY reported earlier.

DIAL says it is “committed to ensure hassle-free transition to T3, and the ‘proving flights’ will enable all stakeholders to make a smooth and confident transition for commercial operations.”

Senior officials at the dedication cautioned that initial glitches can be expected. One main issue continues to be IT. An official told The DAILY that while manual backups were there, it could cause great commotion for baggage-handling, ground-handling and passenger check-ins.

“Given the size and scale of T3, DIAL has carefully analyzed the commissioning outcome through extensive trials and also the experience of many other new terminals across the globe. This exercise will enable the airport to mitigate probable initial glitches and pave the way for a seamless transition to full scale international operations,” says an official.

Meanwhile, to celebrate the launch of T3, Emirates will fly an Airbus A380 to the airport on July 15. Emirates, which is completing 25 years of service to India, operates 184 weekly flights from 10 Indian destinations to Dubai. (See related story on Page 6.)