Mangalore: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh said here on Monday that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would extend the concrete runway at Mangalore International Airport if the State government hands over an additional 285 acres of land.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the cargo complex at the airport the Minister said if the land was made available the concrete runway (rigid pavement runway) would be extended up to 3,400 meters to handle larger aircraft like Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777-200. “I will request the State government to provide the land to the AAI,” he said.
The existing concrete runway is 2,450-metere long and the length of the old tar runway (flexible pavement runway) is 1,468 meters.
He said that the cargo terminal at the airport had a floor area of 1,400 square meters for handling international cargo and 1,100 square metre of floor area for handling domestic cargo.
“The facility has annual holding capacity of 5,000 tonnes for international import cargo and 13,000 tonnes for international export cargo. It has the annual holding capacity of 18,000 tonnes for domestic in-bound cargo and 21,000 tonnes for domestic out-bound cargo,” Mr. Singh said.
19/03/13 The Hindu
