• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept. 24 The third runway at Delhi airport, which should help ease congestion of aircraft over the Capital, is to become operational from Thursday. “The new runway will be open for 24-hour use from 6 a.m. tomorrow. The first aircraft to touch down on the new runway will be an Air India plane,” an official spokesperson said.

The airport plans to utilise the new runway for aircraft leaving from the Capital while aircraft arriving here will be landing on the existing runway, an official statement issued here late on Wednesday states.

The 4,430-metre-long runway is among the longest in Asia and its commissioning will make Delhi the first domestic airport to have three operational runways.

The runway, which was readied ahead of its official commission in February next year, is wide enough to accommodate the world’s largest commercial jet – the Airbus A-380.

The runway is also equipped with CAT IIIB Instrument Landing System at both ends allowing compatible aircraft to land even when the visibility is as low as 50m.

“The use of the new runway will also help improve flight operations during the peak winter season when Delhi experiences fog related problems,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The airport with a traffic throughput of 24 million passengers during 2007-08 is the second busiest in the country. The construction of the new runway was part of the plan being undertaken by Delhi International Airport Ltd, a consortium led by the GMR group, which is modernising the airport.

More Stories on : Airlines

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line