Delhi airport roof collapse: Terminal 1 likely to remain shut for a few weeks, says report

Delhi airport's main domestic terminal will likely remain closed for a few weeks following the collapse of a canopy at Terminal 1 (T-1) last week, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

It is important to note that a portion of the roof, canopy and several beams at the domestic terminal 1 collapsed on Friday after heavy rains in the national capital, which resulted in one fatality and eight injuries, besides the cancellation and rescheduling of several flights.

Delhi Airport has three terminals: Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3. The recently expanded T1 terminal – having a capacity to handle 40 million passengers annually-- is being used by budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet for domestic flight operations.

The report said the temporary closure of Terminal 1 due to the Friday incident is set to increase pressure on two other terminals from where domestic flights also operate

"It could take few weeks, if the issue is small but very likely that it could take beyond a month if the problem is major," Reuters quoted a source at GMR Airports Infrastructure, which operates the airport.

"No matter how much time it takes, the terminal will not be re-opened until everything has been checked thoroughly," the source added.

Meanwhile, the GMR in a statement said it was "too early" to provide details of when the T-1 terminal could resume operations.

Delhi airport handles 1,400 flights a day across its three terminals. Flight operations from T1 were currently limited to less than 15% of the total as they were gradually resuming after the recent expansion and refurbishment.

It should be noted that nearly 21,690 passengers from IndiGo and 925 from SpiceJet have been affected in the past three days and around 90 flights moved to other terminals. Of these passengers, refunds have been processed for 9,972 passengers, with 9,431 passengers from IndiGo and 541 from SpiceJet receiving their money back, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu today visited the Delhi airport’s Operations Control Centre (AOCC) to oversee the ongoing operations. He also held a meeting with senior officials from various aviation bodies, including the DGCA, BCAS, DIAL. The meeting focused on managing the transition of flights from Terminal 1 to Terminals 2 and 3, and ensuring smooth operations.

Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Naidu said, “Inspected the AOCC, IGI Airport, I convened with senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, BCAS, DIAL, and airline operators to review current operations and passenger handling following the transition of flights from T1 to T2 and T3.”