Post by : Meena Ariff

One of the four runways at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport—Runway 10/28—will be closed for three months, from June 15 to September 15, for improvement work. The goal is to make this runway better at handling flights during bad weather like winter fog.

The airport company, airlines, and aviation officials have been planning together for weeks to make sure flight delays and cancellations are kept to a minimum. This time, they’re much better prepared than in April, when a similar closure caused many flights to be delayed or canceled due to sudden weather changes.

What’s Happening?

The airport will cancel about 114 flights per day during this three-month period. This includes both flights landing and taking off. On an average day, about 1,450 flights operate at the airport, so this is about 8% of flights. Normally, about 3–3.5% of flights get canceled anyway, so officials say this isn’t too high.

Another 43 flights each day will be moved from busy hours to quieter hours to reduce crowding during peak times.

Why Is the Runway Closing?

Runway 10/28 is being upgraded to become CAT 3B-compliant. This means it will be able to handle landings and takeoffs even when visibility is very low—like during foggy weather. Right now, it can only do this from one side. After the work is done, it will be able to do this from both sides.

With this upgrade, three runways at Delhi Airport will be ready to handle foggy conditions, which often cause big problems in North India during the winter.

What Happened in April?

Back in April, the same runway was closed for work. However airlines didn’t reduce flights properly, and sudden wind changes made the situation worse. Many flights were delayed or canceled, causing trouble for passengers. The government stepped in and told the airport to reopen the runway and wait until after the busy summer travel season to start work again.

Why Now?

The airport wants the work finished before October when the festive season starts and more people travel. Also, winters come right after, and fog becomes a serious issue. The upgraded runway will help avoid big delays during those times.

How Will This Help in the Future?

During fog, planes can only land in certain directions based on the wind. Right now, landing from the east side (easterly operations) during fog is harder and takes longer to return to normal. For example:

• Westerly operations (landing from the east) = 3 hours to clear delays
• Easterly operations (landing from the west) = 6 hours to clear delays

After the runway upgrade, both directions will be equal in terms of how fast operations return to normal. This means fewer delays in winter.

Currently, during fog:

• Westerly Direction handles 30 flights an hour
• Easterly Direction handles only 15 flights an hour

After the upgrade, both will be able to handle 30 flights an hour.

So while there will be fewer flights for three months, the work will help make the airport better and faster—especially during foggy days in the future.