HC asks DIAL, airlines to resolve shifting issues

New Delhi, Jan 18 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and the airlines to try to resolve the issues relating to shifting operations from Terminal 1 (T1) to newly opened Terminal 2 (T2) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

A division bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Rekha Palli, giving last opportunity to DIAL, IndiGo, Spicejet and GoAir to resolve the issues by Friday, said if they failed to resolve the issues, the court would start hearing arguments on an appeal filed by IndiGo against the decision.

The court's direction came while hearing an appeal filed by the IndiGo, India's biggest private airline by market share, challenging the single-judge order of December 20, 2016, upholding DIAL's decision to shift a part of the airline's operations to the new terminal.

DIAL had asked the three airlines operating from T1 to shift one-third of their flights to T2 to enable it to expand the terminal to meet growing passenger numbers.

Defending its decision, DIAL had said T1 had already exceeded its capacity and if airline operations were not shifted partially, it would lead to overcrowding of the airport.

IndiGo had contended that shifting partially from T1 to T2 would result in confusion and cause inconvenience to passengers. By this decision, IndiGo will be spread over three terminals as it operates international flights from Terminal 3.

DIAL had directed IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to relocate their operations in "parts" and split their operations by shifting flights to and from some sectors, namely Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, to T2 with effect from January 4, 2018.

It had also said that the capacity of the three airlines' flights to and from the three sectors would amount to around eight million persons per annum and shifting those to T2 would considerably reduce the burden on T1.

The single-judge had given the airlines time till February 15 to shift their operations.