Third new taxiway at growing airport

N9 is the airport8217;s third new taxiway since the GVK-backed Mumbai International Airport Limited MIAL took over the airport8217;s functioning. Two rapid-exit taxiways RET, Charlie and Whisky, went into operation last year.

Taxiways are parallel paths that ensure connectivity of aircraft from the runway to essential installations such as hangars, parking areas and terminal buildings. Earlier, aircraft landing or taking off relied heavily on the main runway8217;s only taxiway, Delta. Now, new taxiways have lowered considerably the runway occupancy time of landing aircraft, which is a key requirement at an airport such as this, the country8217;s busiest and a prime gateway.

A senior airport official said the new taxiway has not eased runway congestion immensely but has filled in for the absence of taxiway Delta, which has been under repair for more than six months now. Taxiway N9 is located on the northwest side on the airport8217;s main runway and precedes taxiway Delta.

8220;According to the MIAL masterplan that the consortium had presented in October 2006, we plan to have 11 taxiways,8221; said an MIAL spokesperson. 8220;N9 has come in as a replacement for Delta which is still being completely rebuilt. Earlier all aircraft would only vacate the runway from Delta because of which the taxiway was in very bad shape.8221;

According to a release by MIAL, the location of taxiway N9 has been chosen to facilitate all wide-body aircraft to vacate the runway after landing with ease which makes it the first compliant taxiway for Code-F, which can accommodate aircraft of the likes of A-380.

The first flight to use the new taxiway was a British Airways 119 flight from London, a Boeing 777-200.