Feb 15 on, Ahmedabad runway to be shut 9 hours daily

If you have booked a flight to fly in or out of Ahmedabad in March or April, expect a reschedule or heavy congestion. The runway repair work, set to begin from February 15, will make the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport non-operational from March 1 for nine hours every day for nearly two months.

However, the maximum impact will be on fliers from March 1 onwards, as before that, the flights will still be able to land or take off despite the repair work.

Manoj Gangal, airport director, said, “The repair work will be undertaken in phases. In phase 1, which will go on between February 15 to February 28, we will focus on the portion that does not disturb landing and take-off,  so flight movement will not be affected. Phase 2 will begin from March 1 and will go on till April 15. 

During this period, the runway will remain closed from 10 am to 7 pm. However, we will continue to assist aircraft flying above us; only ground movements will be restricted.”

Asked about inconvenience to passengers, he said, “Passengers will get affected as the peak hour rush will increase. But for me, the priority is aircraft safety and hence runway repair is equally important.”

The runway last underwent repairs in 2016 and was made functional within six months, way before deadline, with a similar restriction of non-operational hours. 

Need to repair

In July 2017, many flights were delayed and diverted in three separate incidents that were blamed on runway damage; AAI also ordered a report later