NEW DELHI: IndiGo and SpiceJet today shifted partial operations to Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital, with both the airline reporting an on-time departure of the flights and smooth operations.
IndiGo, the country's largest airline, said 18 flights took off from the terminal in less than 12 hours and it worked in tandem with the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the airport operator, to ensure a seamless transition.
Passengers were made aware of the move, it added.
"On day one, all our departures left either on time or before time without any No Shows. This has been possible because of the tremendous efforts that have been put in by my hundreds of team members in a very short period of time," IndiGo president and whole-time director Aditya Ghosh said in a statement.
Similarly, a SpiceJet spokesperson said: "The operations and departure of its flights went smoothly without any delays and glitches and there was excellent and coordinated teamwork by SpiceJet ground staff. Eight flights have departed from T2 till now. Operations at the terminal kicked off 12 am onwards today."
IndiGo will be operating over 100 flights to T2 while SpiceJet will have 22 flights operating out of T2.
The walking time between T2 and T3 will be five minutes.
After much dilly-dallying and court battles, IndiGo had on March 15 announced to relocate a chunk of its operations to the revamped T2 from March 25.
A day earlier, budget carrier SpiceJet too had announced to move 22 of its flights to seven destinations from T2.
GoAir had moved its entire operations to T2 in October last year.
Complying with the recent order of the Supreme Court, both IndiGo and SpiceJet had submitted lists of sectors to GMR-led DIAL for shifting to T2 and DIAL had given its consent to the proposal.
In its statement today, IndiGo said it kept its passengers informed well in advance via messages, emails and calls about the shifting of their flights to T2.
Besides, an extensive media campaign was launched for the dissemination of the information.
Extensive road signages have been put up by IndiGo over and above those provided by the airport operator.
Free shuttle services at 10 minutes interval will also be made available between T1 and T2, DIAL said in a separate statement.
IndiGo staff were stationed in bright yellow T-shirts both at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of the airport to address and assist passengers in need.
Senior leaders of the airline were also present throughout the night to oversee operations.
T2, spread over 36,000 square meter, has been provided with 74 check-in counters, 18 self-check-in kiosks, 12 X-ray machines and six baggage reclaim belts.
It has 16 boarding gates, including aero-bridges.