Click to play videoNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, inaugurated the Indira Gandhi International Airport's new Terminal 3 to make it world's fifth largest airport on Saturday.
The new terminal building can cater up to 34 million passengers annually and has 95 immigration counters. It also promises to redefine air travel in India and boasts of in-line baggage handling system with capacity to handle 12,800 bags per hour.
There are six common check-in islands with 168 check-in counters and 78 passenger boarding bridges.
With an area of 5.4 million square feet the airport has a nine-level passenger terminal building and the apron area is 6.7 million square feet. There is a 100-room transit hotel for domestic and international passengers, 97 automatic travelators and a retail space of over 2,15,000 square feet.
With all eyes on the performance of the glitzy airport, the chairman of the GMR Group GM Rao says, "I am sweating. There are so many expectations."
Passengers will be able to use the airport only from July 16 when international flights take off. Full fare domestic airlines will begin operations at the end of the month.
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