Chennai: Chennai airport has finally opened the second runway for flights — part of the runway, anyway.
Aircraft will not be able to use the entire stretch of the tarmac, leaving the operational length more or less the same as it was before it was expanded at its northern end with a bridge over the Adyar at a cost of more than Rs 550 crore.
The proposed expansion from 2,300 metres to 3,400 metres was meant to allow large, long-distance aircraft like Boeing 747s and Airbus A300s to use the runway.
After botching up the project, with experts casting doubts on the stability of the bridge and failing to acquire land to complete the expansion, operator Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been left with egg on its face. The runway will now be used only by smaller aircraft and when the main runway is closed.
13/05/14 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India
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Aircraft will not be able to use the entire stretch of the tarmac, leaving the operational length more or less the same as it was before it was expanded at its northern end with a bridge over the Adyar at a cost of more than Rs 550 crore.
The proposed expansion from 2,300 metres to 3,400 metres was meant to allow large, long-distance aircraft like Boeing 747s and Airbus A300s to use the runway.
After botching up the project, with experts casting doubts on the stability of the bridge and failing to acquire land to complete the expansion, operator Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been left with egg on its face. The runway will now be used only by smaller aircraft and when the main runway is closed.
13/05/14 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India
