New Delhi/IBNS: The long-awaited expansion of Terminal 1 (T-1) at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport commenced operations from Saturday (August 17), weeks after operations from the T1 had been suspended due to a canopy collapse.

The older T-1 building is currently undergoing repairs, and only the new expanded terminal is now accessible to the public, according to reports.

The state-of-art new terminal was developed as a part of the Phase 3A expansion project by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 10.

SpiceJet will lead the way by shifting some of its flights to the new terminal on August 17, with IndiGo following suit on September 2, relocating more than 30 flights from Terminals 2 and 3, as per reports.

"As per the plan, SpiceJet would shift their 13 flights to Terminal 1 from August 17 and subsequently IndiGo would move back their 34 flights from T2 and T3 to T1, from September 2," a DIAL press release said.

Terminal 1 used to handle IndiGo and SpiceJet flights exclusively, until on June 28, heavy rain caused a canopy to collapse and led to the death of a cab driver.

In its new and improved form, the DIAL has reportedly made various additions to Terminal 1.

They have installed signage at strategic locations, including on-road markings, to guide IndiGo and SpiceJet passengers to the departures area, while guards from security firm RAXA will be deployed to assist passengers and help them reach the appropriate departure points, according to the DIAL press release.

Terminal 1 now also boasts an innovative ‘Queue-Buster: Mobile Check-in Service’, DIAL said, adding the service is meant to help passengers avoid long queues at check-in counters.

Once Terminal 1 is open, all passengers flying with SpiceJet will entry through Entry Gate A on the ground floor, while IndiGo passengers will enter through Entry Gates 5 and 6 on the first floor, as per DIAL.

All passenger arrivals will take place through specified arrival areas on the ground floor, while for arrivals, passengers will take the same route to exit the terminal, according to DIAL.