Mumbai: The airport’s main runway will be closed for re-carpeting from Monday onwards, eight hours a day, six days a week, for about five months. During the closure, till March 28, 2020, flights will continue to land and take off from the secondary runway. To accommodate the closure, all airlines put together have cancelled 26 flights per day, said a source.
Despite the cancellations, flight delays, especially during the morning and evening peak hours, could be expected since the secondary runway isn’t as effective as the main one. Though airfares haven’t gone up on most sectors, Sunday bookings for evening flights between Delhi and Mumbai showed a spike. For example, the cheapest one-way Delhi-Mumbai Monday evening fare was Rs 11,000, though it was likely due to fog-related flight cancellations at Delhi airport.
The main runway, 09/27, will not be available for aircraft operations from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday. It will remain open throughout Sundays and public holidays, including December 25, January 15, February 19 & 21, and March 10 & 25.
“Re-carpeting will enhance the runway’s life by 7 years. Runway 09/27 is prone to heavy wear and tear because it is in use most of the time,” said a source. The airport, which handles an average of 940 arrivals and departures a day, has a set of cross runways. Thus, unlike airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which have parallel runways, with both operational simultaneously, in Mumbai, only one runway works at a time. Earlier, major work on the main runway was done in 2009-10.
04/11/19 Times of India
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Despite the cancellations, flight delays, especially during the morning and evening peak hours, could be expected since the secondary runway isn’t as effective as the main one. Though airfares haven’t gone up on most sectors, Sunday bookings for evening flights between Delhi and Mumbai showed a spike. For example, the cheapest one-way Delhi-Mumbai Monday evening fare was Rs 11,000, though it was likely due to fog-related flight cancellations at Delhi airport.
The main runway, 09/27, will not be available for aircraft operations from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday. It will remain open throughout Sundays and public holidays, including December 25, January 15, February 19 & 21, and March 10 & 25.
“Re-carpeting will enhance the runway’s life by 7 years. Runway 09/27 is prone to heavy wear and tear because it is in use most of the time,” said a source. The airport, which handles an average of 940 arrivals and departures a day, has a set of cross runways. Thus, unlike airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which have parallel runways, with both operational simultaneously, in Mumbai, only one runway works at a time. Earlier, major work on the main runway was done in 2009-10.
04/11/19 Times of India
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