India is planning to become a global transit hub.
Amidst travel disruptions in Gulf countries due to Iran War, India is preparing its airports as an alternative to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. In fact, India is preparing to make Indian airports as the world’s biggest transit hub. A senior official said in a media report that the government has made an integrated policy to develop the main airports of Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru as international transit centers (intermediate stop for international travel). Such airports aggregate passenger demand from across the region and provide many direct flights to major cities around the world. Currently, 85% of India’s connecting traffic goes through airports like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore’s Changi. Many Indian passengers going to North America also travel through European airports like Frankfurt and London.
India’s planning is something like this
Under this initiative, the government has eased immigration and cargo-screening norms at airports, making it easier for passengers traveling from smaller cities to international destinations via a major hub. Air India will launch its first such flight next week, which will allow passengers traveling from Varanasi to 17 international destinations – including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan and Singapore – to complete the immigration process at their origin.
After this, passengers will travel to the designated Indian airport like Delhi or Mumbai and will be able to board their international flight directly without going through immigration or customs process again. The luggage will be transferred airside itself, so passengers will not need to collect it again and check-in. Officials said that after trying out this model on the Varanasi-Delhi route, more routes to the capital’s airport will be added, and then transit connections will be started through Mumbai and Bengaluru. The official cited above said in the ET report that the hub-and-spoke model will be an important part of the international hub strategy.
Many airports will be connected
These places will include London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan and Singapore. After this the passengers will travel to the designated Indian airport like Delhi or Mumbai. The special thing is that you will be able to board your international flight directly without going through immigration or custom process again. The luggage will be transferred airside itself, so passengers will not need to collect it again and check-in. Officials said that after trying out the model on the Varanasi-Delhi route, more routes to the capital’s airport will be added, and then transit connections will be started through Mumbai and Bengaluru. In the ET report, the official said that the hub-and-spoke model will be an important part of the international hub strategy. This will reduce the connection time significantly and the travel experience will be better, which will provide ease to the passengers.
Airside bus and air train planning
To be a successful transit hub, an airport must provide facilities that do not require excessive connection time between flights. Large airports like Dubai and Istanbul can do this in about 60 minutes via high-speed trains or underground road networks, while in Delhi it takes about two hours because of the difficulty of commuting between terminals. To solve this problem, Delhi Airport will soon introduce the facility of airside bus transportation of passengers between its three terminals, which will reduce the transfer time to 20 minutes.
Such passengers will not need to go through security check before their next flight. According to reports, the airport is also planning to start work on India’s first air train, which will connect all three terminals and cargo facilities. Its objective is to modernize passenger transport infrastructure. It is expected to be ready in about 30 months. The number of transfer passengers at Delhi Airport has increased continuously and now one out of every four passengers is a transfer passenger.
