Main runway to be shut during daytime till Feb 7 for upgrade

Flights in and out of Mumbai airport will be seriously affected over the next two months as the main runway has been shut for upgrading radars and other operational equipment.

Due to this, over 120 domestic departures have been affected, airport sources said, adding, "by the time the work gets completed, airlines' on-time performances will go for a toss, as the main runway will remain unavailable between 9 am and 5 pm till February 7".

They further said, "In the past two days, every airline has experienced a delay of up to 30 minutes as all the take- offs are now taking place from the 09-end of the main Runway 09/27 due to the glide path relocation."

The Mumbai airport and the Airports Authority are changing the glide path angle at the main Runway (27) to 3 degrees from the present 3.3 degrees to meet international norms.

Glide path is an equipment that gives vertical guidance to a landing aircraft. The aircraft locks the signal and the descent angle from the glide path and starts descending. Its function is to bring the aircraft to a proper spot or touchdown zone on the runway. Three degrees is considered the optimum.

Mumbai airport authorities say the situation is unavoidable and all stakeholders, including aviation regulator DGCA, are taken into confidence prior to the commencement of the work.

"This is something which is unavoidable. But we have informed all the stakeholders and have also taken all the factors into consideration and chosen the best time of the year to keep the risks to the minimum," an airport official said.

The airport handles as many as 600 flights everyday.

The ILS (instrumental landing system) of the main Runway 27 has a glide angle of 3.3 degrees instead of the conventional 3 degrees since its inception. A higher glide angle has inherent operational disadvantages such as unsuitability for Cat-II and Cat-III and prevents pilots from maintaining the prescribed speed on the final approach, the official said.

... contd.

ALSO READ

Foreign retailers must set up fresh back-end facilities: Anand Sharma

Wipro, AT&T expand relationship in M2M space

DGCA scrutiny likely for airlines' levy on services

It’s home sweat home for these Mhada lottery winners