Runway misses reopening date

The airports secondary runway,14/32,did not get back in operation as scheduled today,with certification not coming through from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The airports secondary runway,14/32,did not get back in operation as scheduled today,with certification not coming through from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Departing flights were to have used the secondary runway from today. The two runways would have been in use simultaneously between 5.30 and 8.30 pm,as was the practice till October last year before the 14/32 was shut for reconstruction.

No exact time was set by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) for the handover of the runway to air traffic control (ATC). Later,sources said DGCA certification was likely to arrive by Friday morning. Airport officials said a notice to airmen,or NOTAM,has been prepared for Fridays secondary runway operations.

They were supposed to hand over the runway by Thursday afternoon but DGCA officials were inspecting the runway lights till very late in the evening, said a senior airport official.

Officials said the runway certification procedure includes calibration of the instrument landing system (ILS).

Once in operation,the secondary runway will accommodate over 150 departures daily,decreasing substantially the load on main runway.

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