Mumbai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has floated yet another controversial proposal under which it will spend about Rs 3 crore to build a dedicated helipad at Juhu airport's northern end. Pilots who fly from Juhu, the country's busiest airport for off-shore helicopter operations, have dubbed the project as useless for numerous reasons.
The Juhu airport has two runways, laid out in such a way that they cross each other, much like the layout of Mumbai airport's runways. Early this month, AAI, to the disbelief of helicopter pilots, announced that the shorter of Juhu's two runways will be shut down permanently The AAI officials and civil aviation secretary did not divulge details about the proposed helipad at that time, though the plan has been in place for about two months now.
"Currently, 40% of the time, we use Juhu's secondary runway because of prevailing winds and the usage of secondary runway at Mumbai airport," said Capt Uday Gelli, president (west), Rotary Wing Society of India, which promotes safety in the helicopter industry. Said a source: "To show that the Juhu airport can function minus the secondary runway, the AAI has come up with the helipad plan."
21/04/13 Manju V/Times of India
