Fire-fighting infrastructure at airport to be upgraded

Chennai: In a bid to improve passenger safety, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to upgrade the category of the Chennai airport for fire-fighting infrastructure.
The decision is to keep up with the ongoing modernisation and expansion. "We are looking at fire-fighting infrastructure to handle very big aircraft like the A 380," said a senior AAI official.
In response to an application to upgrade the airport from the current category nine to category 10, staff from directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) visited the airport for an evaluation recently. Sources said the clearance could come any time.
Category 10 upgradation will enable the airport to have more crash fire engines, more chemicals to generate foam, better water storage facilities, and more personnel to handle emergencies involving very large aircraft.
Fire-fighting infrastructure is determined by the category in which an airport is graded. Airlines are allowed to fly different types of aircraft based on the category. Widebody aircraft will be allowed to be flown to an airport only if fire-fighting infrastructure is at category nine or 10. "There are adequate personnel available to meet the requirement of category nine. We had applied for an upgrade sometime ago," said airport director EP Hareendranathan.
AAI applied for upgradation because the airport is being equipped to handle A380 aircraft. The runway and the taxiways being constructed are designed keeping this possibility in mind. Delhi and Mumbai airports are category 10 airports.
03/02/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011