Following the announcement that the secondary runway 14-32 of Mumbai airport will remain shut from October 10 to January 20, 2012, fliers must now prepare for another potential nuisance.
Following the announcement that the secondary runway 14-32 of Mumbai airport will remain shut from October 10 to January 20, 2012, fliers must now prepare for another potential nuisance.
The main runway 09-27 is expected to remain shut for six months from January 2012. Although the main runway will be shut only for eight hours daily, it will still affect passengers, especially those of international airlines, which have
refused to operate on the
secondary runway.
The secondary runway 14-32 of Mumbai airport will remain shut as Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is building a taxiway to reduce runway occupancy time by aircraft. “After runway 14-32 reopens in January, the main runway 09-27 will remain shut for eight hours daily for the next six months,” said a senior official from the airport.
“This is because MIAL wants to build a rapid exit taxiway for runway 09 of 09-27 which is Code F compliant,” he adds. Since November 1, 2010, till June 1, 2011, runway 09-27 was closed daily for eight hours, from 9am to 5am, for repairs. The width of the runway was widened to 60 metres from 45 metres to make it Code F compliant so that bigger aircraft like an Airbus 380 could use the runway for landing. Even the height of the runway was raised by 1 metre.
“As we have a Code F compliant runway, it’s only logical to have Code F compliant taxiways. So we decided to construct it. We have estimated a time of six months but it could be completed earlier,” he said.
While domestic airlines use runway 14-32 for landings and take-offs, most international airlines like Singapore, Qantas, Saudia Airways prefer to operate flights on main runway 09-27 for safety reasons.
“These airlines will have to shift their day flights and reschedule them,” the official said. Since the past 22 months, either of the runways at Mumbai airport have been undergoing repairs for some reason or the other. The spokesperson for MIAL was unavailable for comment.
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