For the past twenty years, millions of Delhites and tens of thousands of tourists had to suffer through the confusing maze and the run down and pathetic conditions of Delhi Airport. The domestic terminal used to be horrible, few places to eat, run down, uninspired architecture, rude staff, was overcrowded and chaotic. In 2006, DIAL a partnership of several firms including Fraport, Earman Malaysia, GMR, and AAI started work on a nearly$8 billion project to fix up the run down airport and to eventually give Delhi one of the world’s most advanced and efficient airports.
The domestic terminal recieved cosmetic upgrades, such as new floors, better lighting, large seating areas, etc. However, Terminal 1A and 1B weren’t able to cope with the increasing growth in domestic air travel. To alleviate this problem, DIAL went outside of the box and decided to spend extra money to build a new domestic departure terminal, until Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 were both completed by 2014. At that time, the new terminal would be used as a regional jet terminal.
The drive to the new domestic terminal wasn’t bad, however, the signs leading to the airport were confusing and because we somehow ended up at the closed Terminal 1B, as we tried to get out of there we again got stuck and entered the employee entrance, upon noticing that we were horribly confused, a security guard directed us back to NH8 and we had to do the whole charade again. Thankfully, the next time we headed into the right lane and ended up at the departure levels entrance to Terminal 1D. The area was very well signed and police officers did their best to maintain order, although some crazy drivers apparently don’t know what the zebra lines mean.
The terminal was spacious and had beautiful architecture, with high ceilings and plenty of natural light. The check-in rows were organized well by blocks(A, B, C, etc.) and we headed for the Jet Airways desks. The check-in staff were confused and sent customers in circles, but it really wasn’t the airport’s fault.
Afterwards, we went to the security area. The security staff was awkward because every line I stood in, the staff member would say had just closed and then I would change lines and this same crap would happen again. After 10 minutes of switching lines, I finally found one that was open long enough and I noticed that 3 counters suddenly opened up when a group of Canadian tourists showed up!
The boarding gates were a quick walk downstairs, and the food courts were located above, so we decided to head to the food court and there were many shops/newsstands on the floor. The food court had nice views of the tarmac and had plenty of restaurants from costa coffee, to a dosa stand, to Pizza Hut/KFC, Yo China!, and more. The food court area was very clean, although tables appeared to run way short. About 30 minutes before departure we headed down 2 levels to our gate and I was impressed by the spacious gate areas with plenty of comfortable and clean seating.
We boarded the bus and were on our flight in a matter of 5 minutes. Overall, departure from the domestic airport was impressive and good job by GMR.
Our arrival into New Delhi was another story, though. Due to the high air traffic, our plane was forced into a holding pattern(circling the airport) for about 20-25 minutes and we landed on the new runway 11/29, however, the problem was that this new runway was about a 20 minute taxi from the domestic terminal! I wish that we could have landed on the older runway 10/28 or runway 9/27, both of which are a 5-10 minute taxi from the domestic terminal.
The arrivals terminal, I believe its the former Terminal 1B, was in relatively good condition and we were able to find the correct carousel and pick up our baggage quickly. Outside, however, was a chaotic mess. People were very confused as to where to find their pick up arrangements and the limited staff couldn’t help. In addition, many cars were stopping and waiting in the pick-up area, which isn’t what they are supposed to do, it’s an immediate pick-up area. Police officers were doing their best, but no one was listening to them and the drive out of there was difficult and hectic.
Delhi’s domestic airport has improved, but security staff display their typical nonchalant attitudes towards Indians, poor ATC management as we landed on a runway extremely far from the terminal(I checked the weather reports and winds were fairly calm that night), and the pick-up area was chaotic.
Overall, congratulations to DIAL group for a vast improvement on the domestic airport and I look forward to seeing what DIAL can do with the new Terminal 3. I would give Delhi’s new Terminal 1D a 3.6/5 overall.