Delhi airport roof collapse: Govt hints at airport audit, spot fares skyrocket

In a major accident that raises questions about the infrastructure of the country’s biggest airport, a large section of the roof at Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed in the early hours of 28 Jun after a heavy spell of rain. One person died and eight others were injured in the accident, as per the latest update from the airport administration.

Following the accident, the civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said that the ministry will inspect other airports as well to prevent such untoward incidents in future.

“From the ministry’s side, this is being taken as a serious incident, not just at this airport but across the country any airports with similar structures...we will have to go through them all again and we will have to do a thorough checking of all necessary airports that come under purview, we will see if there is a requirement for an internal body also,” Naidu told journalists after inspecting the accident site.

In a statement late on Friday evening, the ministry stated that a war room will be set up to ensure full refund of cancelled flights and to facilitate alternative travel route tickets as per availability for affected passengers over the next few days. All refunds will be processed within a stipulated time  of seven days, the ministry added.

The ministry has also asked the Airports Authority of India to issue a circular to all major and minor airports to conduct a thorough inspection of structural strength.

"These inspections must be completed within the next 2-5 days, and the reports are to be submitted to the ministry of civil aviation," the ministry said in a statement.

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Delhi airport is India’s largest and busiest airport and handles around 20% of the country’s total domestic and international traffic. During 2023-2024 (April-March), the airport handled 73.7 million passengers, 12.8% higher than the year-ago period.

With three terminals, Delhi airport has the capacity to handle around 104 million passengers per year. The terminal in question is the oldest terminal at Delhi airport. Formerly called Palam terminal, it used to be the sole terminal for both domestic and international flights for Delhi.

In January 2006, a GMR group-led consortium was awarded the concession to operate, manage and develop the IGI Airport following an international competitive bidding process. The initial term of the concession period is 30 years extendable by another 30 years. GMR group had then commissioned the new domestic departure terminal—1D in February 2009.

“The roof that collapsed at the Delhi airport’s terminal 1 was constructed during 2008-2009. The work was contracted out by GMR to private contractors,” a government official said.

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As part of its master plan of making Delhi airport ‘future ready,’ the airport had started expansion work of Terminal 1 in 2019 and is now the largest domestic terminal in the country at a capacity of 40 million passengers per annum, up from 17 million passengers earlier. Currently, it exclusively handles domestic carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet. The revamped terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March this year.

The disruption at Terminal 1 led to chaos for passengers with over 80 flight cancellations by IndiGo and around 15 flight cancellations by SpiceJet. The airport generally handles around 190-200 arrivals and departures per day.

“As a precautionary measure, all flight operations from Terminal 1 have been suspended till further notice and rescheduled by the respective airlines to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, till the impacted areas are restored for operations,” a Delhi airport spokesperson said.

The airport’s Terminal 2 has a capacity of 15 million passengers per annum while Terminal 3 has a capacity of 45 million passengers per annum.

Naidu said that the terminal 1 will be shut until a thorough inspection of the entire structure is completed. An airport executive further added that the terminal is likely to be shut over the next 2-3 days at least.

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As a result of the sudden flight cancellations and delays, spot fares for several routes have risen, data from travel portals showed. Spot fares for a one-way Delhi-Kolkata flight have soared to ₹6,500-25,000 from a fare band of around ₹6,000-9,000 earlier. Similarly, spot fares for Delhi-Bengaluru flight have risen to ₹8,000-40,000 from a band of ₹6,000-10,000 earlier and those for Delhi-Leh rose to ₹6,500-20,000 from a band of ₹6,000-9,000 earlier.

The ministry has advised airlines to monitor any abnormal surge in air fares to and from Delhi and undertake cancellations and rescheduling without penal charges.

Meanwhile, the airport has formed a technical committee to investigate the cause of the incident and said that it is working with all relevant agencies, including Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Delhi Police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assess the situation and restore operations.

The airport has announced a compensation of ₹20 lakh to the family of the deceased, and ₹3 lakh each to those who received minor injuries.

While the cause for the collapse is being assessed, the primary cause seems to be the continued heavy rainfall over the past few hours, the airport said.

“As per the India Metreological Department, Delhi Safdarjung recorded massive 228.1mm of rains in last 24 hours (mainly in the early morning hours of today). This is the highest 24 hours rain in Delhi in June after 1936, the average rainfall in the area in last 30 years is 75.2 mm,” the airport added.

In addition, the ministry has asked AAI to examine an incident in Jabalpur airport where a metal part from a canopy fell on the ground in the departure area.