New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), is expected to reopen its runway RW 10/28 for operations from 16 September 2025, after completing the upgradation works, reported the news agency PTI, citing people aware of the development.
The upgradation work of runway RW 10/28 was postponed in May due to congestion issues, and the runway remained closed for three months from 15 June 2025, according to the agency report.
What was upgraded?
According to the agency report, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) on the RW 10/28 was being upgraded to make the runway CAT III compliant. This CAT III compliance will allow flights to operate at low visibility conditions during foggy weather scenarios.
According to GlobeAir data, there are three types of approaches while an aircraft makes a landing: Category (CAT) I, Category (CAT) II, or Category (CAT) III.
These three approaches represent different levels of precision instrument approaches based on visibility and decision height.
According to the data, the CAT I is the basic form of landing approach, which requires a decision height of at least 200 feet and a runway visual range of 550 meters or more.
The CAT II approach of an aircraft is with lower minimums for visibility and decision height. A decision height is the altitude where a pilot decided to carry forward with the landing or cancel the approach to re-attempt a landing.
Finally, a CAT III approach denotes almost zero visibility landings in some cases.
According to the agency report, the Delhi International Airport Ltd-operated Indira Gandhi International Airport handles nearly 1,450 flight movements every day with the help of its four runways — RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 11L/29R and RW 10/28.
The airport is India’s largest and busiest airport with three operational terminals. However, Terminal 2 is temporarily closed for maintenance works.
