IGI Airport operates at full capacity despite BRICS Summit VVIP rush

Despite increased air traffic from VVIP and delegate travel for the 18th BRICS Summit, Delhi's IGI Airport continued to operate at full capacity for scheduled flights with no significant delays or disruptions, according to the AAI.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) Regional Executive Director (Northern Region) Ajay Kumar Kapur on Sunday said Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) has continued to operate at full capacity for scheduled flights despite increased air traffic due to VVIP and delegates travel linked to the 18th BRICS Summit. He said Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) has handled peak VVIP and delegate arrival flights over the last two days while ensuring that scheduled commercial operations continue without disruption. The two-day 18th BRICS Summit, being hosted at Bharat Mandapam, concluded today.

Air Traffic Management Measures

“We have already seen peak VVIP and delegates arrival flights in the last two days. Various Air Traffic Management measures are in place e.g. arrival management, additional flexible ATC sectors, additional supervisors and coordinators, speed control, runway management, taxiway management, active ATC-Airport Bay management and information exchange,” Kapur told ANI in an interview.

“From ATC operations point of view no significant delays have been observed. No diversions are reported due to VVIP movements. IGI is operating with full capacity for scheduled flights. Active Air Traffic Flow Management measures are in place to manage slots,” he added.

Experience Helps Manage Operations Efficiently

Kapur said the experience of handling VVIP movements at IGI has helped ATC manage the operations efficiently. “It's years of experience at IGI ATC. We handle maximum VVIP flights. We use three/four runways very efficiently. Runways are rotated for scheduled flights in a planned manner. VVIP flights get a clear runway while for civil flights rotate the runways…runways seamlessly when it is clear of VVIP flight,” he said.

Resumption of Non-Scheduled Operations

On the resumption of general aviation and non-scheduled operations after the restrictions are lifted on Sunday evening, Kapur said the airspace restrictions would be normalised immediately. “Airspace restrictions on non-scheduled flights will be normalized immediately after the restrictions are lifted,” he said. (ANI)

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