Delhi airport roof collapse highlights

Primary cause for roof collapse seems to be the continued heavy rainfall, Delhi airport operator DIAL said.

Delhi airport operator DIAL says technical committee set up to probe roof collapse incident at airport’s terminal 1

All IndiGo and SpiceJet flights departing from and arriving at T1 have been suspended till further notice, the airports has said in a post on X.

SpiceJet flights have been moved to T3 while IndiGo flights will be operating from both T2 and T3, the post said. 

Among the affected flights are four from Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). The Hyderabad airport officials confirmed that as of Friday afternoon, four IndiGo flights from RGIA to Delhi have been cancelled.

In an update on X, IndiGo has said that all flights from T1 have been cancelled till 12:00 a.m. on June 29. 

Flights due to arrive at T1, will now arrive either at T2 or T3 in, the airline said.

​

SpiceJet informed all its passengers that the airline’s flights departing from Terminal 1 are being re-accommodated to Terminal 3.

IndiGo said in a post on X that they will assist passengers in finding alternate flight options or full refund.

“We might take slightly longer than usual to respond as our contact centers are experiencing high volumes”, the airline said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X to attack the Modi government for the airport collapse. 

“Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards”, Mr. Ramesh said.

He went to list several instances of infrastructure collapse under the NDA govt, including Jabalpur airport roof collapse, Ram temple leakage, cracks in Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road and more. 

Mr. Ramesh also alleged that the inauguration of the T1 departures terminal in March 2024 was only a gimmick before the Lok Sabha elections.

Delhi Airport has announced in a post on X that departures and arrivals are fully operational at T2 and T3.

Arrivals are also operational at T1.

Only the departing flights from T1 are cancelled till 2 p.m. today.

The Departure hall of Terminal 1 was inaugurated in March 2024 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after being reopened following expansion works that started in 2019.

However, Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu clarified that the portion of the building that collapsed on Friday morning was built in 2008-2009, and the work was awarded by GMR to private contractors.

The Civil Aviation Minister said that terminal 1 has been completely evacuated but It could take until tomorrow to resume operations and carry out inspections.

Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu announced ₹20 lakh compensation for the kin of the deceased, and ₹3 lakh for the injured.

The roof that collapsed at the Delhi airport’s terminal 1 was constructed during 2008-09. The part of the building inaugurated by the PM is on the other side, Mr. Naidu said.

“As a result of this incident, all departures from Terminal 1 are temporarily suspended, and check-in counters are closed as a safety measure. We sincerely regret this disruption and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The Ministry of Civil Aviation said that alternate arrangements being made for flights impacted due to temporary closure of Terminal 1.