Is Dwarka too loud from aircraft noise?

Dwarka is the most chronically noise-affected colony around IGI. It sits directly off the western ends of runways 28 and 29, and in Delhi's prevailing westerly flow departing aircraft climb out over it and frequently turn left toward Dwarka shortly after takeoff. Unlike Vasant Kunj, it has no Aravalli Ridge buffer to soften the noise, which is why sectors 7, 8, 22 and 23 have been a repeated source of National Green Tribunal petitions. Drop a pin on the map above to see the exposure for your specific sector and street.

Which Delhi areas are under the flight path?

It depends on which way the airport is operating. In the common westerly flow, departures climb out over the western suburbs — Dwarka, Palam, Bijwasan and out toward Najafgarh — while arrivals come in over the eastern corridor through Vasant Vihar and Mehram Nagar. The two east-west runways (09/27, 10/28) concentrate noise due east and west of the field; the two parallel north-east/south-west runways (11L/29R, 11R/29L) push the footprint toward the north-east and south-west. Mahipalpur and Palam sit close under the approach and departure paths in almost any configuration.

How do I complain about plane noise in Delhi?

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) runs a dedicated Aircraft Noise Complaint Cell. You can reach it on 011-47198600 or via the contact page at newdelhiairport.in/contact-us. DIAL also operates an automatic aircraft-noise monitoring system and publishes noise data on its website following National Green Tribunal directions, so logged complaints feed into ongoing compliance reporting.

Why is Vasant Kunj quieter than Dwarka even though both are near the airport?

Geography. Vasant Kunj sits south-east of the field and is partly shielded by the Aravalli (South-Central) Ridge green buffer, which breaks up some of the noise. Dwarka, to the west, has no such barrier and lies directly under the busy western departure corridor. Both areas have been NGT petitioners, but Vasant Kunj's sustained exposure is generally lower, which is why we rate it medium and Dwarka high.

Does the rotating night runway actually change which neighbourhood is affected?

Yes. During the 11 PM–6 AM window the single late-night landing runway is deliberately rotated (around 3 AM) and reversed weekly so that no one set of homes carries the night landing noise every night. The result is that a given week's overnight overflight depends on which runway end is active that week. The map above reflects observed traffic, so it captures how the footprint moves rather than assuming a fixed path.

How loud are planes over Mahipalpur and Palam?

Both are among the closest residential areas to the field. Mahipalpur sits immediately south of the terminals under low approach and departure paths to the east-west runways, and Palam — which lends its name to the airport area — is adjacent to the airfield under the western runway paths. Aircraft are low and frequent over both, so exposure is high. The exact count and decibel profile for your block is on the pin-drop tool above.

Is the aircraft on this map complete for Delhi?

The heatmap and route-density layers are built from ADS-B traffic, which covers the commercial jet fleet operating into and out of IGI very well. The main gaps are a small amount of military and general-aviation traffic — including movements from the separate Hindon airfield near Ghaziabad, which is a different facility and not part of IGI — that may not be ADS-B-equipped. For commercial airliner noise, the picture is accurate.

Delhi Flight Path Noise Map – Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)

Name: Aircraft noise observations near Indira Gandhi International Airport
Creator: Flight Path Noise
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aircraft noise around Delhi in October 2026

Loudest neighborhoods near Delhi: Dwarka (Sectors 7, 8, 22, 23), Bijwasan, Mahipalpur, Palam / Palam Village. Quietest: Kishangarh (near Vasant Kunj), Saket, Gurugram (DLF/Cyber City fringe), Rajouri Garden. Busiest around 9 AM local time averaging 1371 flights/day. Source: Flight Path Noise monitoring data, 30 days to 2026-10-18.

Flights by hour · last 30 days

12a6a12p6p

Average daily traffic

1371

flights / day · 41,132 total

Busiest hour

9 AM

peak 95 dB

Loudest hour

9 AM

peak 95 dB

Loudest residential area

Palam / Palam Village

74 dB avg · ~1,351 flights/day · Loud conversation

Adjacent to the airfield and under the western runway flight paths; lends its name to the airport area

Does Delhi Airport have a curfew?

No — Delhi has no formal curfew.

IGI Airport (DEL/VIDP) operates 24 hours and there is no blanket ban on flights. What it has instead is a night noise-management regime between 11 PM and 6 AM (2300–0600 IST): operations are limited to a reduced runway set, principally 10/28 and 11R/29L, and during westerly traffic flow a single-runway landing restriction applies. The one late-night landing runway is rotated — changed around 3 AM — and reversed on a weekly basis specifically to spread night landing noise across different residential areas. So nights are quieter and more concentrated than the day, but they are not silent the way a hard-curfew airport like Sydney is.

Indira Gandhi International (DEL/VIDP) is India’s busiest airport, and one of the very few major hubs to sit almost entirely inside a dense metropolis — residential colonies press right up against the airfield perimeter on nearly every side. Its four runways form an unusual mixed pattern: two near-east-west strips (09/27, 10/28) and two parallel north-east/south-west strips (11L/29R, 11R/29L), so the noise footprint shifts dramatically depending on whether the airport is landing into an easterly or westerly wind. The single most defining fact is that, unlike most Indian airports, Delhi runs an explicit night noise scheme: between 11 PM and 6 AM it restricts operations to a reduced runway set and rotates the single late-night landing runway weekly to spread overflight noise across different neighbourhoods. The result is a noise story driven less by a hard curfew than by sheer 24-hour volume and the geometry of who happens to be under the active runway.

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

Western suburbs are the chronic problem. Dwarka sits directly off the western runway ends, departing jets turn out over it, and — unlike Vasant Kunj to the south-east — it has no Aravalli Ridge buffer to soften the noise. That combination has made Dwarka the most consistently affected colony and a repeat National Green Tribunal petitioner. Bijwasan, Palam and Mahipalpur, all hard against the field, round out the high-exposure ring.

Area	Aircraft noise	Why
Dwarka (Sec 7, 8, 22, 23)	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Off the western runway ends; departures turn out overhead, no Ridge buffer
Bijwasan	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Under the 29/28 departure and 11 arrival corridor; NGT petitioner area
Mahipalpur	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Immediately south of the terminals under low approach/departure paths
Palam / Palam Village	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Adjacent to the airfield under the western runway paths
Vasant Kunj	✈︎✈︎	Close in, but partly shielded by the Aravalli Ridge
Najafgarh	✈︎✈︎	Further out on the western departure track; higher-altitude overflight
Mehram Nagar	✈︎✈︎	Just east of the field under the east-west runway paths
Vasant Vihar	✈︎✈︎	Eastern approach corridor to 27/28 on westerly landings
Janakpuri	✈︎✈︎	North-west; affected by 29 operations and turning departures
Sagarpur	✈︎✈︎	Just north of the boundary; ground noise plus parallel-runway overflight
Kishangarh	✈︎	Partly behind the Ridge, off the main westerly corridor
Saket	✈︎	Off the principal corridors; overflights at higher altitude
Gurugram (Cyber City fringe)	✈︎	Lateral to the east-west corridors; affected only on some turns
Rajouri Garden	✈︎	North of the field, off the active tracks

If aircraft noise is your main concern, the practical move in Delhi is south-east toward the Ridge (Vasant Kunj, Saket, Kishangarh) or far enough north to clear the active corridors. The areas to scrutinise hardest are the western colonies — Dwarka, Palam, Bijwasan — and Mahipalpur under the terminals. If you’re looking at flats there, drop a pin on the map above to see your specific block.

Flight patterns and runway use

Delhi predominantly operates in westerly flow for much of the year: aircraft generally land toward the west (runways 27, 28, 29) and depart to the west, putting arrivals over the eastern approach corridor and departures climbing out over the western suburbs — Dwarka, Najafgarh and Bijwasan. When the wind shifts to easterly flow the pattern reverses, with arrivals over the west and departures heading east/north-east. The two east-west runways concentrate noise due east and west of the field, while the two parallel NE/SW runways shift the footprint toward the north-east and south-west.

The runway geometry matters for where the loudest moment falls. 11R/29L is the longest at 4,430 m and carries one of the world’s longest displaced thresholds — around 1,460 m on the 29L end — an explicit noise-mitigation feature that pushes landing touchdown points, and departure rotation points, well down the runway and changes where the loudest overflight occurs. 11L/29R (4,400 m) is the newest, fourth runway. The east-west pair, 10/28 (3,810 m) and 09/27 (2,813 m, the shortest), handle the bulk of the everyday traffic; in normal westerly flow 27 commonly takes arrivals from the east while 28 handles departures, with those westerly departures noted by residents to turn left toward Dwarka soon after takeoff.

DIAL applies several noise-abatement measures on top of the runway rotation: Continuous Descent Approach to keep engine power (and low-level noise) down on the way in, restrictions on older Chapter-2 aircraft, an automatic noise-monitoring system with terminals across the area, and a sound barrier studied with IIT-Delhi for homes near the 11/29 runway. The route-density layer on the map above shows the cumulative result: bright corridors running east-west across the field and the NE/SW bands from the parallel runways.

When is it quietest?

Delhi never fully closes, so “quiet” here means the 11 PM – 6 AM night window rather than a true curfew. During that window operations drop to a reduced runway set — principally 10/28 and 11R/29L — and in westerly flow a single-runway landing restriction applies. Crucially, that single late-night landing runway is rotated around 3 AM and reversed weekly, so which neighbourhood carries the overnight landing noise changes from week to week rather than falling on the same homes every night.

A rough daily shape:

Overnight (11 PM – 6 AM): reduced runway set, single late-night landing runway, lower volume — but not silent. Which area is under it depends on the week’s rotation.
Early morning (6 AM – 9 AM): the day operation ramps up fast as the full runway set comes back online; heavy departure activity.
Midday: sustained, high volume — this is India’s busiest airport.
Evening (6 PM – 10 PM): a second peak as arrivals and departures stack up before the night restrictions begin.

A wind shift from westerly to easterly flow will flip the whole pattern, suddenly moving traffic that was routing over the western suburbs to the eastern corridor and back. For the hourly profile at your exact address, use the pin-drop tool above.

How to check noise at your specific address

The map above answers “is this spot loud?” for any address in the National Capital Region. Three steps:

Search your address or postcode in the bar at the bottom of the map — a Dwarka sector, a Mahipalpur block, a Vasant Kunj pocket.
Drop a pin by clicking the location marker that appears.
Read the noise report in the sidebar: average daily noise (Leq), peak observed dB, flights per day passing within 2 km, and an hourly breakdown.

The Noise Heatmap layer (orange/red = louder) and the Route Density layer (purple/magenta = busier corridors) make Delhi’s mixed runway geometry obvious — the east-west band across the field and the NE/SW arms from the parallel runways. Because the heatmap is built from observed traffic, it also captures how the night-landing rotation moves the overnight footprint week to week, rather than assuming a single fixed path. If a home looks marginal, check it across a few days to see how the flow and the rotation affect it.

If you want to formally report aircraft noise, DIAL runs a dedicated Aircraft Noise Complaint Cell on 011-47198600 and via newdelhiairport.in/contact-us; logged complaints feed into its noise-monitoring and NGT compliance reporting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Dwarka too loud from aircraft noise?: Dwarka is the most chronically noise-affected colony around IGI. It sits directly off the western ends of runways 28 and 29, and in Delhi's prevailing westerly flow departing aircraft climb out over it and frequently turn left toward Dwarka shortly after takeoff. Unlike Vasant Kunj, it has no Aravalli Ridge buffer to soften the noise, which is why sectors 7, 8, 22 and 23 have been a repeated source of National Green Tribunal petitions. Drop a pin on the map above to see the exposure for your specific sector and street.
Which Delhi areas are under the flight path?: It depends on which way the airport is operating. In the common westerly flow, departures climb out over the western suburbs — Dwarka, Palam, Bijwasan and out toward Najafgarh — while arrivals come in over the eastern corridor through Vasant Vihar and Mehram Nagar. The two east-west runways (09/27, 10/28) concentrate noise due east and west of the field; the two parallel north-east/south-west runways (11L/29R, 11R/29L) push the footprint toward the north-east and south-west. Mahipalpur and Palam sit close under the approach and departure paths in almost any configuration.
How do I complain about plane noise in Delhi?: Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) runs a dedicated Aircraft Noise Complaint Cell. You can reach it on 011-47198600 or via the contact page at newdelhiairport.in/contact-us. DIAL also operates an automatic aircraft-noise monitoring system and publishes noise data on its website following National Green Tribunal directions, so logged complaints feed into ongoing compliance reporting.
Why is Vasant Kunj quieter than Dwarka even though both are near the airport?: Geography. Vasant Kunj sits south-east of the field and is partly shielded by the Aravalli (South-Central) Ridge green buffer, which breaks up some of the noise. Dwarka, to the west, has no such barrier and lies directly under the busy western departure corridor. Both areas have been NGT petitioners, but Vasant Kunj's sustained exposure is generally lower, which is why we rate it medium and Dwarka high.
Does the rotating night runway actually change which neighbourhood is affected?: Yes. During the 11 PM–6 AM window the single late-night landing runway is deliberately rotated (around 3 AM) and reversed weekly so that no one set of homes carries the night landing noise every night. The result is that a given week's overnight overflight depends on which runway end is active that week. The map above reflects observed traffic, so it captures how the footprint moves rather than assuming a fixed path.
How loud are planes over Mahipalpur and Palam?: Both are among the closest residential areas to the field. Mahipalpur sits immediately south of the terminals under low approach and departure paths to the east-west runways, and Palam — which lends its name to the airport area — is adjacent to the airfield under the western runway paths. Aircraft are low and frequent over both, so exposure is high. The exact count and decibel profile for your block is on the pin-drop tool above.
Is the aircraft on this map complete for Delhi?: The heatmap and route-density layers are built from ADS-B traffic, which covers the commercial jet fleet operating into and out of IGI very well. The main gaps are a small amount of military and general-aviation traffic — including movements from the separate Hindon airfield near Ghaziabad, which is a different facility and not part of IGI — that may not be ADS-B-equipped. For commercial airliner noise, the picture is accurate.

Sources and further reading

Indira Gandhi International Airport — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
Indira Gandhi International Airport runways (VIDP) — OurAirports
Delhi Airport sets up complaint cell to control aircraft noise — ANI News
Data on aircraft noise displayed on website, DIAL tells NGT — The Week
IGI airport gets sound barrier — The Tribune
Contact Delhi Airport — Helplines, Email & Feedback — Delhi International Airport (DIAL)

Data updated 2026-10-18 — live ADS-B monitoring, rolling 30-day statistics (methodology). Article text revised 2026-05-30.

30 dB	Whisper
45 dB	Quiet residential
55 dB	Normal conversation
65 dB	Busy road
75 dB	Vacuum cleaner
85 dB	Heavy traffic
95 dB	Motorcycle nearby

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Delhi Flight Path Noise Map – Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)

Aircraft noise around Delhi in October 2026

Does Delhi Airport have a curfew?

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

Flight patterns and runway use

When is it quietest?

How to check noise at your specific address

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

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