Delhi airport registers record flight movement in an hour

The Indira Gandhi International Airport has handled a record 73 number of flight movements in the country in an hour on a particular day.

"We are delighted to inform you that the Air Traffic Control at Delhi airport handled a total of 73 aircraft movements in one hour on Thursday last, January 24. It is the record number of air traffic movements ever made at any airport in India, thanks to efforts by the ATC team," said I Prabhakara Rao, CEO of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) which operates the airport.

The record was set between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm on January 24.

"For half an hour, two runways were in use and for the other half an hour, all three runways were in use. It is certainly a testimony to the combined efforts of ATC, DIAL and the airlines," Mr Rao said.

The previous high ATM was recorded in December 2012 when 62 flight movements were recorded.

Delhi is the busiest airport handling over 800 flight movements per day. Mumbai airport, which is the second busiest, has a record of handling around 35 flights in an hour, official sources said.

Delhi airport is ranked number two in the world by Airport Council International (ACI) in the category of 25-40 million passengers.