New runway at IGI Airport opens today

25 Sep 2008

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New Delhi: Congestion at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport might just be a thing of the past, with the new 4.4-km-long runway all set to open this morning.

The runway is set to be operationalised this morning at 6:00 am, with the first flight touching down on it being an Air India plane at 6.15 am.

With the new runway being thrown open to flight operations, the flight-handling capacity of the international airport will increase to about 65 flights per hour, against a current demand is of around 45 flights per hour.

The new runway faced its share of controversies initially, with the air traffic controllers expressing concerns over security as the runway was not visible from the tower, and there being some water logging and drainage issues.

Ministry officials have now clarified that the visibility problem has been addressed through the use of sophisticated equipment, and the Delhi International Airport has got permission to drain water into the Dwarka drain adjoining the runway.

Sources say that the new runway will be used for landings, while the main runway will be used for take-offs, in order to minimise taxiing time. However, if the wind direction demands landing from the Dwarka side, landing will take place on the main runway, and the new run way would then be used for take-offs. Once operational, the secondary runway will not be used unless one of the two main runways is not available. 

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