Mumbai: The Mumbai International Airport Limited has started demolishing the Chhatrapti Shivaji International Airport's old Air Traffic Control tower at Marol.
Officials said it was being pulled down as it was creating problems in operating bigger aircraft on the secondary runway. The demolition will be completed in a few months.
"The dismantling of the old ATC will help improve efficiency in operations and help us use both the runways better," said a MIAL official.
In 1942, British authorities moved air operations further inland of the Juhu aerodrome, which was till then the city's sole functioning airfield. The move was necessitated due to the airstrip's low-level location and proximity to the Arabian Sea, which made it vulnerable during the monsoons. While an ATC was built in the 1950s and was demolished a few decades later.
The ATC at Marol, which is now being demolished, was built in 1996 and stood close to the secondary runway and is a notified obstruction in the landing path. Large aircraft of carriers like Singapore Airlines, Saudia and United Airlines could not land on the secondary runway and often had to wait for the primary runway to be cleared.
16/10/14 Yogesh Naik/Mumbai Mirror
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Officials said it was being pulled down as it was creating problems in operating bigger aircraft on the secondary runway. The demolition will be completed in a few months.
"The dismantling of the old ATC will help improve efficiency in operations and help us use both the runways better," said a MIAL official.
In 1942, British authorities moved air operations further inland of the Juhu aerodrome, which was till then the city's sole functioning airfield. The move was necessitated due to the airstrip's low-level location and proximity to the Arabian Sea, which made it vulnerable during the monsoons. While an ATC was built in the 1950s and was demolished a few decades later.
The ATC at Marol, which is now being demolished, was built in 1996 and stood close to the secondary runway and is a notified obstruction in the landing path. Large aircraft of carriers like Singapore Airlines, Saudia and United Airlines could not land on the secondary runway and often had to wait for the primary runway to be cleared.
16/10/14 Yogesh Naik/Mumbai Mirror
