Domestic flights likely to use Delhi's old runway to save time

New Delhi: Domestic passengers flying into Delhi may soon be spared the agony of taxiing anywhere up to 30 minutes to reach domestic terminal after landing on IGI's distant new runway (29). In an attempt to cut passenger discomfort and airline delays caused by this, the aviation ministry is considering to have domestic landing and takeoff from the old runway (28) that's just off the domestic terminal.
This move would drastically reduce the long taxi time as reaching the terminal would then just take a couple of minutes. Moreover, the risk of crossing an active runway would be eliminated as aircraft have to go over runway 28 after landing on runway 29 to reach the domestic terminals.
International departures and arrivals could be shifted to the new runway as that is nearer to the current international terminal. In changed wind direction when aircraft land on the new runway from Dwarka side towards the Shiva statue, take a u-turn and then begin the long taxi to the airport. But this is not being considered as an issue as international flights are of longer duration and can factor in a 10 to 12 minute taxiing time without their schedules getting affected.
"The ministry is getting a simulation study done on the plan to use runway 28 and 29 for domestic and international movements, respectively. The operating procedures for this are being drawn up and a high-level meeting would be convened soon to take a final view on this issue,'' said highly placed sources.
But will the DGCA's eco-friendly move to ban night landing on the new runway from Vasant Kunj side impact this plan? "After 8 pm, domestic movement is very low and runway 28 should be able to handle that along with international movements. The simulation is taking into account all these factors,'' said sources.
07/06/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009