Chennai airport will invest ₹100 crore for air side development, including a parallel taxiway and two rapid exit taxiways. Work on these facilities will begin by the end of the year. The implementation of these projects will ensure the runway occupancy time of flights is reduced, thereby decreasing delays. Currently, the airport handles about 32 aircraft movements per hour. The development of these facilities will allow more aircraft movement.
Straightening of taxiway
Apart from this, the straightening of the Bravo taxiway will also be taken up in phases. A taxiway is a route that an aircraft may take to either head to the terminal or runway.
Airport director G. Chandramouli said these two projects will be taken up in phases since work has to be carried out without affecting aircraft movement. “We will first have to get the safety study done. Subsequently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will have to give its approval, after which work can commence,” he said.
The straightening of Bravo taxiway, that has been in the works for years, will take at least two years to complete. It will be carried out in two phases. After a substantial part of work on the straightening of the taxiway is over, the work on the two rapid exit taxiways will start.
Only recently, a new taxiway ‘M’, — the 24th such facility — was commissioned on the southern side of the airport.
