NEW DELHI: Passengers travelling out of the Capital from next year will check into a brand new terminal. While frequent flyers will have to endure the growing pains of the airport for a little longer, Delhi International Airport (Private) Limited has started work on a new building -- sandwiched between the terminal that services Indian and Kingfisher airlines and the domestic arrivals -- to cater to the massive increase in domestic air traffic.

VIP parking

"This new terminal will include a new building for departures and a bigger and improved building for arrivals. The existing arrival building will be expanded into what is the VIP parking area at the moment. We hope to increase the number of conveyor belts in the arrivals terminal and take the number up to eight. At present there are only five belts,'' said an airport official. Changing the system of domestic arrivals and departures, DIAL will move the departures of Terminal 1-B -- which caters to private airlines except Kingfisher Airlines -- to the new building. The old terminal will then be decommissioned.

The brand new structure will be capable of handling 10 million passengers per annum. A two-level building, the new terminal will allow passengers to check-in at the upper level and proceed to the security hold area.

"There will be common use equipment for all airlines in the terminal. Initially it was thought that Air Sahara could move into Terminal 1 A, which houses Kingfisher Airlines and Indian. But after the Jet Airways and Sahara merger, the situation changed,'' asserted the official.

The new terminal will have all the facilities that passengers could need. "When their respective flights are announced, passengers would travel downstairs to a gate hold room area and there on to their respective aircraft,'' said an official.

Expansion

Costing over Rs. 300 crore, these expansion plans will go a long way in reducing the time passengers spend retrieving their luggage and checking in.

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