Create a parallel runway at Juhu airport first: Aviation industry

Mumbai: While the debate rages on about the feasibility of the Navi Mumbai airport, the aviation industry thinks that a parallel runway at the current airport can provide interim relief till the new one is ready. It has proposed that this can be done by shifting slum-dwellers to Juhu airport land, which is lying unused.
The wait for a new airport is getting on the nerves of the civil aviation industry. “It is too late to find a new airport as the current one is highly choked. Besides, with the new rules of arrival and departure, the air traffic movement (ATM) at Mumbai airport has gone down tremendously,” said Saroj Datta, executive director, Jet Airways. The ATM, which was 36-40 arrivals per hour, is now barely 30-32 per hour. “With the current runway being closed for repairs and airport expansion, the next six months are going to be horrendous,” he said.
“We are only looking at the long-term solution. The new airport will take a lot of time. Till then, some interim measures are required to ease the situation. A parallel runway should be built so that it takes care of the increased ATM capacity till the new airport is built,” he said. “Without a parallel runway, I don’t know how long the Mumbai airport will function smoothly. Like the new airport, a parallel runway should also be given equal attention,” he added.
According to experts, the single runway capacity utilisation is much less at Mumbai compared to other airports in the world.
26/09/10 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: airports Sep 2010