“Mumbai used to be, in most matters, the commercial capital of India with 40 per cent more flights than Delhi in 2004. Surprisingly, Delhi has now overtaken Mumbai in the number of flights handled,” Patel said at the Idea Exchange programme with The Indian Express.

The minister, though, accepted that certain infrastructure-related shortcomings still exist at the Delhi airport.

“The new runway may be posing some inconvenience today, but the fact that Delhi has overtaken Mumbai in terms of air traffic is in itself a reflection that the Capital has grown not only in terms of airport infrastructure but also in overall economic activity,” Patel said.

Passengers, though, rue the long distance an aircraft has to cover after touchdown at IGI — from the new runway (29-11) to the new domestic terminal building (1D). Patel said the long taxiing time is an issue that would get resolved when the entire airport operations moves to the terminal building T3, being constructed at present.

“The new runway is on the left of that terminal and there is a parallel runway on the right,” he said. “So there will be no taxiing time eventually, like it exists now.”

The taxiing time at IGI Airport is a result of the distance — 9 kilometres — between the new domestic departures terminal (T1D) and new runway 29-11. After touchdown, an aircraft has to taxi this distance to reach the terminal building.

To work on the issue, the Airports Authority of India has now decided to use the two main runways (28-10 and 29-11) in mixed mode: domestic flights use runway 28-10, which is close to domestic terminal 1D, while international flight operations take place from the new runway — 29-11.

“The new standard operating procedure has already brought down the taxiing time from 25 minutes to 15 minutes,” Patel said. “It is better than hovering in the air for 45 minutes.”