The Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi airport) is the largest airport in the country. It is expected to handle more than 72 million passengers by the end of 2024, making it the ninth biggest airport in the world. Currently, the airport is in an expansion phase. Its Terminal 1 (T1) was inaugurated on March 10, 2024 and is expected to be operational by mid-2024. In order to manage the increasing traffic, supporting infrastructure has been put in place on both the air side and the land side. At a recent Indian Infrastructure conference, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive officer, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), discussed the key sustainable and automation-based advancements being undertaken at Delhi airport, the emerging technologies that are planned to be adopted, and the major challenges faced and addressed by DIAL. Excerpts…
Sustainable initiatives
Delhi airport is at the forefront of sustainability among airports across the world. It is the second airport globally to be rated with Level 4+ transition under the Airport Council International’s Carbon Accreditation Programme. It plans to achieve Level 5 by the end of 2024. It currently operates on 100 per cent renewable energy through the use of various technologies and incorporation of sustainable aspects in its design principles. For instance, a reduction in carbon footprint was amongst the critical considerations while designing T1. It is the only airport building globally that has achieved LEED’s platinum pre-certification. It aims to reach its net zero carbon emissions (including Scope 3 emissions) target by 2030. In fact, the airport is already 95 per cent carbon-free and is undergoing the toughest phase of reducing the last 5 per cent.
As a part of its sustainable operational aspects, DIAL has been working with various partners to reduce the carbon footprint on the air side. It is the first airport to commercially launch taxi-bots that reduce the running time of auxiliary power units for aircraft, saving close to 240 litres of aviation turbine fuel from the apron to the runway. Eastern cross taxiways have also been inaugurated at the airport, reducing the taxi time by 7 to 8 per cent and roughly saving around 55,000 tonnes of carbon. Further, energy management measures have been implemented, such as the installation of LED lights on the new runways and the adoption of an individual light control and monitoring (ILCM) system that helps in visual inspection of runway lighting. ILCM helps in the automatic monitoring and controlling of lights from the air traffic control towers.
Technology uptake
Aviation is one of the infrastructure sectors that are most connected with practical technological solutions. These solutions majorly include automation practices for the optimisation of existing infrastructure and airport operations, along with resource management to enhance security and passenger facilitation.
Strengthening security
Cybersecurity tools linked to new smart cameras can provide extra security-related information and send automatic alerts to the Security Operation Control Centre. Another key feature of this smart city airport is video analytics, which is a big change in the security system. It is being deployed at the airport to monitor unauthorised baggage. DIAL is also planning for its installation on the city side to align with the overall Smart Cities Mission. Among the advanced equipment being used at the airport is the Air Traffic Management (ATM) Data Service Provider (ADSP). Five ADSP stations have been installed at Delhi airport to ensure that the noise contours are within the specified limits. It also provides details on aircraft movement, helping individual airlines improve their approach paths and operations. Moreover, DIAL is working with international agencies on the ATM, to improve overall asset utilisation and achieve better profitability for the airport and airlines. It is also working with various teams such as air traffic controllers to release additional capacity, given the high air movement restrictions in the no-flying or restricted zones of Delhi. In addition, DIAL has deployed an IoT-based Vehicle Monitoring System, enhancing safety standards on the airside through vehicle speed regulation.
Passenger facilitation
Delhi airport has been consistently rated as the best airport in the South Asia region in the category of passenger experience by SKYTRAX. A key artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions for managing passenger flow movement, called XOVIS, is used at Delhi airport. It helped in dealing with traffic congestion during the Covid-19 pandemic by determining the required traffic density in an area to manage social distancing. It also sent alerts when the density crossed the specified limit. The system now provides the current and predicted waiting time at the airport. This information can be shared with other stakeholders such as the Central Industrial Security Force and the emigration department. They can use this to deploy new machines to man more counters, deflating the queue build-up.
Another well-accepted solution for passenger facilitation is the DigiYatra mobile application. Its current penetration rate is 30 per cent. Its main benefit is that it incorporates privacy in its design. The use of blockchain helps in verifying identity credentials. This verified information is made available to the passenger on the mobile application for 24 hours, after which it is automatically erased to ensure data security. DIAL is currently in discussions with various agencies to upscale the application to facilitate immigration for international passengers. A sub committee has been formed to ensure there is no compromise on security and other aspects of privacy on the upgraded platform. It is expected to be launched soon.
Another important effort by DIAL is the trial of a trolley management system at the airport. This will ensure the availability of a minimum number of trolleys in the trolley bank through monitoring with video analytics.
Other advancements
DIAL is undertaking the next level of automation with greater usage of predictive AI tools for advanced planning and overall resource management. The Airport Collaborative Decision Making system is one of the important innovations that have been adopted. Typically, around eight to ten agencies work in tandem to enable the turnaround of an aircraft. This system has internet of things-based devices to procure time stamps and detect particular activities that delay the turnaround of aircraft. It then limits such activities to reduce the turnaround time. This addresses the limitations of contact stands and provides an extra stretch for particular resources with the additional capacity.
“Delhi airport aims to reach its net zero carbon emissions target by 2030. In fact, the airport is already 95 per cent carbon-free.”
Amongst the emerging innovations planned to be adopted by DIAL is the Airport Operation Centre (APOC). Currently, the airport is equipped with the Airport Operations Control Centre, which deals with resource management, while the APOC will ensure total airport management. This signals a shift from mere allowance of resource allocation to predictive and prescriptive tools that can provide all the relevant data from various stakeholders on a common dashboard. Furthermore, augmented navigation for large indoor areas is being explored. Proofs of concept for full-body scanners and smart-city equipment such as smart bins and smart washrooms have been prepared and will soon be the norm at the airport.
Challenges and solutions
The critical challenges faced by DIAL are being addressed through innovative solutions. One of these is the high cyberthreat level. Delhi airport has been declared as a national critical infrastructure, requiring efficient management of security. To this end, around 90,000 edge devices have been installed at various ingress points to identify potential ransomware or malware that can affect digital systems. DIAL is working with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre to share security-related insights at the airport. Moreover, the airport has a physical lab where different scenarios and defense mechanisms are built to predict cyber threats. A 24×7 Integrated Cyber Defense Control system is also being used for security alerts.
Another area of concern is the slow public acceptance of digital interventions. Around 15 per cent of the passengers at Delhi airport in 2023 were first-time travellers. These passengers are usually sceptical and unfamiliar with the use of new technological devices at the airport. To address this, DigiBuddies have been made available at the airport to provide know-how regarding such gadgets to the passengers.
