Behala airfield to serve small aircraft

Kolkata: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is keen to open the aerodrome at Behala to chartered and corporate flights.
AAI regional executive director (eastern region) Gautam Mukherjee said work on erecting the boundary wall around the 210-acre aerodrome had already begun and the fair-weather tarmac had been upgraded to an all-weather one in the run-up to utilizing the facility better.
".. We plan to create the requisite infrastructure at Behala so that smaller planes can operate without interfering with the schedules of regular carriers," Mukherjee explained.
Apart from corporate planes, Behala will also welcome chartered flights of non-scheduled operators like Deccan Charter that uses small aircraft.
"The current runway at Behala is 3,100 feet long. We intend to add 900 ft so that the runway length increases to 4,000 ft. That will enable most small-sized aircraft to operate. However, operations can happen only during the day and when visibility is good because there is no instrument landing system or runway lights at the aerodrome," the official said.
14/09/10 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Categories: airports Sep 2010, New Sep 2010