Recarpeting of Mumbai main runway from November 1

Mumbai: Passengers need to brace themselves for flight delays at Mumbai airport from November 1 as authorities will be closing the main runway for recarpeting for eight hours during the day. From 9 am to 5 pm, the secondary runway with a much lower capacity will be in use, airport officials said.
While the main runway can accommodate upto 34 flight movements and at a stretch up to 40 movements an hour, the secondary runway can accommodate up to 28 movements an hour. The civil aviation ministry has slashed 12 domestic slots in this winter’s schedule. But the total air traffic movements a day at the airport including domestic, international and general aviation movements are expected to be around 750, which would be keep the secondary runway crowded, airport sources said.
This was reinforced by the Executive Director of Jet Airways, Saroj Dutta, last weekend, when he called Mumbai airport a nightmare for airlines and said that only operators knew what problems they faced on a daily basis. Dutta said that the next few months are expected to be extremely tough for airlines at the Mumbai airport with the main runway being closed.
01/10/10 Express India

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Categories: airports Oct 2010