IGI stalemate ends, after SC order IndiGo says will shift flights

Budget carrier IndiGo today said it would comply with the Supreme Court s order and shift some of its flights from one terminal to another at Delhi s Indira Gandhi International airport in the coming weeks.

On Friday, the apex court rejected IndiGo s plea challenging a Delhi High Court order to shift its operations partially from Terminal 1 (T1) of the IGI Airport here to Terminal 2 (T2).

The SC has given IndiGo and SpiceJet time till March 3 to approach airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) for suggesting which of their flights can be shifted from T1 to T2.

IndiGo deferentially accepts the decision of the apex court and shall implement the order in the coming weeks, in close coordination with Delhi International Airport Limited, the airline said in a statement today.

The top court also laid out the timeline for shifting of operations. It said that after the airlines share details of flights that can be relocated, DIAL will have to take a decision between seven to ten days. Following this, DIAL will inform IndiGo, which will have to comply with the same within ten days. 

Earlier, low-cost carrier IndiGo has written to the Delhi airport operator refusing to shift a part of its flight operations from terminal 1 (T1) to terminal 2 (T2) and threatened "action" if it is forced to do so.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) had asked airlines operating from T1 to shift one-third of their flights to T2 to be able to carry out expansion work according to its master plan and to meet growing passenger numbers.No-frills airlines IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir operate from T1, which handled around 24 million passengers in 2016-17 whereas its rated capacity is 20 million passengers per annum. "We are not agreeable to shifting only a part of our operations from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 of Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi with effect from October 29, 2017, as this will result in widespread confusion and cause grave inconvenience to our passengers, who already hold confirmed bookings," says the letter from IndiGo to DIAL.