Another big achievement by Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)! The international airport of the national capital is leaving no stone unturned to offer best of the services to passengers. The IGI airport, which is one of the busiest airports of the world, has recently achieved the highest on-time performance (OTP), among the top 20 airports in the world that handle the most number of passengers. As per the data released by OAG (a UK-based air travel consulting company that analyses travel data) for the month of August, the airport of the capital city had achieved its highest punctuality in the financial year 2018-19 with an OTP of 82.9%. OTP refers to the measure of flights arriving or departing within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival or departure.
However, in comparison to smaller airports, the Delhi airport does not do as well. According to an HT report, it was in 348th position, considering the fact that many smaller airports, which handle around 10 departures every day, have a better OTP. But, after handling 630 departures a day, the airport achieved an OTP close to 83%. The overall ranking of the airport improved from 831 in May to 593 in June and 484 in July to 348 in August, the report stated.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) informed that in August, the airport handled 19,748 flight movements. A DIAL official was quoted in the report saying that several measures have been taken by the operator to enhance the OTP of all departing flights. The official further stated that the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) enables efficient handling of airport operations, which includes parking bay allocation. Also, for faster decision making, there is a dedicated flight operations performance committee involving all key stakeholders, the official added.
Last year, the IGI airport, for the first time crossed the 60 million-mark and handled 63.5 million passengers, making it to the list of the top 20 busiest airports of the world. This year, the airport is expected to cross the 70 million passenger mark.
Meanwhile, other airports of the country, namely Hubli, Mangalore, and Vadodara airports figure on the list of the top 100 airports with the best OTP, but in a month they handle only around 300-600 flights. On the other hand, Mumbai airport secured 637th position with 77% OTP, improving from 834th position in July, the report stated.