8-month overhaul for Mumbai runway

Mumbai: Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL), the Mumbai airport operator aims to eliminate safety concerns by the end of July 2011 with a massive runway repair exercise that begins next week.
From November 1, the airport’s main runway will be shut for operations between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Saturday for eight months.
The airfield will resemble a massive construction site with 2,500 workers and 500 vehicles. Last year, a similar repair exercise was held for the airport’s secondary runway from October 1, 2009 to April 7, 2010.
However, while the repair work is likely to enhance operations by next year, passengers are expected to face massive delays for the next eight months especially after winter sets in. Foggy days are likely to be extremely chaotic because the secondary runway is not equipped with the Instrument Landing System (ILS), a ground-based aid that guides approaching aircraft using a combination of radio signals and many cases high intensity lighting arrays. Unlike the secondary runway that was dug up to the foundation and rebuilt last year, the primary runway will be widened from 45 metre to 60 metre and will get a thick layer of tar to smoothen the crumbling surface.
25/10/10 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

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Categories: airports Oct 2010