Delhi’s airport is open. The sky around it is not normal. From 7 a.m. on 11 September to 11 p.m. on 13 September a security airspace regime sits over a 300-kilometre ring around the capital for the BRICS Summit. Scheduled passenger flights still operate. Most other flying does not, unless it has been cleared. The practical effect for a ticketed traveller is a longer road to the terminal and a possible 10-to-15-minute slot slip, not a grounded airline. The practical effect for a flying school, a private jet or a drone is a closed weekend.
Can you fly into or out of IGI on a booked airline ticket? Yes. Indira Gandhi International is not shut. Air India, IndiGo, Akasa and foreign carriers on published schedules are exempt. BRICS special flights with ATC-approved plans are treated like scheduled movements. If your departure time has moved, it is usually because controllers slid the bank a few minutes so a presidential arrival does not share the runway. Check the airline app before you leave home. Build extra time for the road, not extra fear for the flight.
Why does the journey to the airport feel worse than the flight? Because the landside cage is tighter than the airside one. On Saturday traffic controls run from 9.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. around Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, Lutyens’ Delhi and the corridors that feed NH-48. Police want airport passengers on the Metro. A convoy can freeze a flyover that your taxi needs. The aircraft may be on time while you are still at Dhaula Kuan. That is the delay most people will actually feel.
What about a charter, a company jet or an empty positioning flight? Non-scheduled operations inside 300 kilometres of Delhi need security clearance. Without it they stay on the ground during the restricted hours. That is the rule that empties business-aviation ramps so controllers can watch presidents and airliners. Do not assume a habitual Delhi charter slot still exists this weekend. File early or wait until Monday.
What must airline crews do differently on the way in and out? Climbing aircraft have to be at Flight Level 290, about 29,000 feet, by the time they are 200 kilometres from Delhi. Descending aircraft may leave that level only once they are at least 200 kilometres away. It is an altitude fence, not a closure. Overflights continue. The profile just gets steeper and starts farther out, which can add a little fuel and a little planning work on short sectors into the FIR.
Are flying schools open? No, not in the seven-state belt. From 7 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Sunday, flying training organisations in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh may not fly or even start an engine. Light and microlight types and long-range unmanned aircraft are barred in the 300-kilometre ring. Hang-gliders, para-motors, aero-models and all drones are barred within 100 kilometres of Delhi. A student hour lost this weekend is the hidden cost of keeping T3 open.
What about Safdarjung and Rohini? Safdarjung is closed except for named IAF, BSF and NSG helicopter tasks. Rohini Helipad is fully closed. Do not plan a city-centre rotary movement unless it is on that named list.
Where do the leaders’ aircraft actually sit, and does that help passengers? Palam takes most head-of-state arrivals. Noida took Russian logistics, including an Il-76. IGI keeps about a dozen special civil bays. Hindon, Jaipur and Lucknow are overflow. The design is to keep presidential metal off the stands your evening departure needs. Public data has not yet shown whether that cut IGI delays. Until an after-action appears, treat 'flights are operating' as true and 'the airport approach is easy' as false.
If you are flying this weekend, do three things. Confirm the flight time in the airline channel, not in a forwarded message. Leave earlier than the traffic map suggests, or use the Airport Express. Do not launch a drone, a trainer or a private sector inside the restricted rings and expect a friendly explanation after the fact. The summit ends Sunday night. The NOTAM ends with it. The roads may take longer to clear than the sky.