Delhi Airport Becomes First in India to Have 4
Runways in Operation
(17/07/23)
Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in New
Delhi officially opened its fourth runway 11L-29R, on Friday.
The inauguration makes DEL the
first airport in the country to have 4 operational runways, and
increases flight capacity by almost 500 more daily flights to just
under 2,000.
The runway opens not long after the opening of the
2.1 km long and 202 metre wide elevated dual-lane Eastern Cross
Taxiway which reduces the distance an aircraft needs to cover
after landing on the third runway to reach T1 from 9 km to 2 km.
The taxiway - which can handle most jets including
A380s, B777s and B747-8 - forms an elevated bridge over Central
Spine Road, which connects Mahipalpur and T3.
The runway was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister for Civil Aviation, Sh. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who
also inaugurated the new taxiway.
As part of the strong partnership with airport
operator GMR Delhi International Airport Limited (GMR-DIAL),
IndiGo’s operations team played a crucial role in the
operationalization of the new runway 11L-29R via a special
validation flight.
The flight was carried out by an IndiGo Airbus
A320 aircraft carrying inspectors and officials, which landed on
the Runway 29R at 1520h IST on 11 July 2023.
The Operations team at IndiGo worked with
GMR-DIAL, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Directorate
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to establish a Route Navigation
Performance (RNP) based approach and missed approach procedures
for the new runway. A draft approach was proposed by AAI, which
was validated on a simulator. The approach was then cleared for
flight validation. In addition, a safety risk assessment was
carried out to identify any risk on the safe operations while
conducting this approach, along with trainer sessions for the
Flight Crew operating the validation flight.
Capt. Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President Flight
Operations, IndiGo, said, "We are really excited with the
inauguration of the new runway at Delhi Airport. The 4th runway
will add additional capacity for the country’s busiest airport.
The development also highlights the Government of India’s
encouragement and support for the aviation sector. We look forward
to taking forward our strong partnership with GMR-DIAL and working
together for the growth of the civil aviation sector in the
country."
IndiGo is the largest flight operator from Delhi’s
Indira Gandhi International Airport, with over 14,000 scheduled
flights movements each month.
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