Operations begin on new runway

Commercial operations on the newly constructed third runway 29-11 of the IGI Airport began on Thursday, with British Airway flight 257 from London touching down at 6.18 am.

Commercial operations on the newly constructed third runway 29-11 of the IGI Airport began on Thursday, with British Airway flight 257 from London touching down at 6.18 am. With the addition of the third runway, the Delhi airport becomes the only airport in the country boasting of three runways.

DIAL officials have said that for optimum usage, the runway will be used only for landing in the coming months. For domestic flights, taking off from 29-11 would mean an additional taxing of 9 km, officials added.

Till 1 pm on Thursday, 104 flights had landed on the new runway. The operations were halted for few hours and resumed at 4.30 pm.

DIAL officials said flight operations will be increased only in a phased manner, with the runway being utilised to its full capacity only by December this year. Instrument landing system Cat III B, which will ensure that flights can operate even in low visibility conditions, will be commissioned by November. With the third runway, Delhi airport8217;s capacity will increase from 35 to 40 flights per hour to 60 to 70 flights.

On touching down, there was a special announcement by the captain of the Boeing 777-300 aircraft informing passengers that they were the first ones to land on the new runway. The aircraft was also given a ceremonial water-cannon salute by four fire tenders from the IGI Airport Fire Service.

8220;The pilot of the flight gave full marks to the runway and said it had one of the best lighting systems he had seen in the world,8221; said Arun Arora of DIAL corporate communications.

The runway was tested for nearly a month before the official nod for making it operational was given on Wednesday by the Civil Aviation Ministry.

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For passengers on board the flight, making history was a thrilling experience. 8220;It was really great to be on board the first aircraft to land on this beautiful runway,8221; said an MNC employee who was on board the aircraft.

Work on the runway was completed within 18 months, six months ahead of schedule, and cost nearly Rs 1,000 crore. The Civil Aviation Ministry had given approval for the third runway in February 2007 and construction work had begun in May the same year.

The 75 metre-wide and 4430 metre-long runway can accommodate A-380 airliner as well. It is expected that by 2010-end or early 2011, international carriers8212;Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa and Emirates8212;will start their A380 services to Delhi from Paris, London, Frankfurt and Dubai.

Waterlogging
The third runway and the accompanying taxiways were once wilderness, with rainwater accumulating naturally. The runway still collects water. To address this problem, DIAL has constructed 32 km of drainage facilities. This drainage system empties into two make-shift reservoirs next to the Dwarka Underpass. The PWD is also constructing a storm drain for Rs 200 crore. The water would empty into the Najafgarh drain.

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Longer distance from other facilities
Domestic airlines are now worried about the extra 20 minutes of taxiing they would have to undertake in order to get to the new runway.

Also, as the domestic apron is situated between the main and the secondary runways, it is difficult for a domestic aircraft to takeoff towards the Dwarka side.

It would have to taxi 3.8 km of the main runway, cross over and travel 4.4 km of the new runway before aligning for takeoff.