Delhi gets Asia's longest runway

The Delhi airport will get a brand new long runway later on Thursday. At a cost of Rs 1000 crores, this is the longest runway in Asia and is expected to end the congestion that has become a daily nightmare for the capital's domestic and international flights.
The endless delays at Delhi's airports have given Delhi passengers and pilots heartburn for many years. The new runway is meant to be the solution.
It is 4.4 km long, the longest not just in India but in Asia and, therefore, it can handle the biggest and newest planes like the Airbus 380.
The new runway will allow the airport to double the number of flights it handles every hour with one flight taking off or landing every minute, which means no more circling in the air.
Faster take-offs and landings will mean less fuel will be wasted and lower pollution.
The runway also has CAT 111 B landing facilities, which means planes can land even when visibility is as low as 50 metres.
So far, Delhi's international and domestic flights have shared two runways. The first runs from the Dwarka side to the Vasant Kunj side. It's intersected by the second runway. The new one runs from the Dwarka side towards Gurgaon.
However, some experts caution that the new runway may encounter two basic problems.
The new runway runs near the Shiv Murti, which also has a picnic spot so bird hits are a potential hazard. Also, the distance between the domestic airport and the new runway is about eight km. So eventually, it may make more sense to use the new runway for international flights.
21/08/08 Alok Pandey/NDTV.com

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Categories: Airports Aug 2008