Maintenance of main runway may cause flight delays

“The runway near the taxiway N-9 had disintegrated due to constant use and requires urgent restoration work. A Notice to Airmen (NoTAM) will be issued in this regard,” said a MIAL spokesperson.

“Although secondary runway can be used for departures and arrivals,there is likely to be some delays in operations on Tuesday.”

However,airport officials forsee a problem on Tuesday— some airlines have regulations that do not permit landing on the secondary runway as it is too close to the ATC tower. “Most domestic airlines prefer the secondary runway,but airlines like Singapore Airlines have to use the main runway. At that time,we will stop work on the main runway to permit the landing,” said an airport official.

Besides this,airport officials have been undertaking maintenance works at the runway-end-safety-area (RESA) of the main runway since May 1. Though RESA is outside the runway,it should be smooth so as to reduce the damage to an aircraft if it skids or makes an excursion beyond the runway. Due to this work,since the last week the Instrument Landing System (ILS) has been unavailable to pilots on the 27-end of the main runway. An ILS is used by pilots to land safely during low visibility,below 5000 m.

“This maintenance work continues throughout the day except for early mornings between 5 am hours to 9 am when visibility is low,” an airport official said. In other circumstances too,airport officials say that ILS can be made available if prior notice is given.

Pilots will not have access to ILS on the 27-end of the main runway till June 1. As of now,the 09-end of the main runway and the 14-end of the secondary runway have ILS facility,said airport officials.