Upgraded runway at KIA to be commissioned on Thursday; flight delays likely

Travellers taking flights from and to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Thursday could face slight delays as airport authorities are set to commission the upgraded runway.

The upgraded runway with two rapid exit taxiways (RETs) will also increase the airport's capacity to handle to 38 air traffic movements (ATM) per hour from the current 34 ATMs per hour. Progressively, the airport will be able to handle 44 ATMs per hour. While the current runway had three RETs, the addition of two will take the total RETs to five.

With the commissioning work along with related preparatory work being carried between 6 a.m. and 3.30 p.m, flights -landing and taking off between 11 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. are expected to be delayed by approximately 20 minutes, said a release from airport operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL).

BIAL sources said that the time between 11 a.m. and 2,30 p.m. when the flights could be delayed is not a very peak hour for airport operations. “While the morning and evening are peak hours, the afternoons will have certain amount of air traffic and those airlines operating flights in this hour have been intimated.”

Sources also said that with the addition of two RETs, the airport will be able to handle more air traffic since the passenger traffic in the airport by 20.6 % last year. Incidentally, about 70,000 passengers use the airport daily and 500 ATMs are reported daily. “These numbers could go up after the commissioning of the upgraded runway,” sources said.

The announcement of completion of the runway upgradation work came from BIAL on Wednesday. The release said that BIAL has taken into view the long term benefit of increased capacity for the upcoming seasons till the second runway is ready. It said that the second runway will be ready for operations by September 2019.

The release also said that the upgradation work, carried out in a phased manner, involved closure of runway while in others partial closure of facilities without impacting airport operations. It said that major works were undertaken from February 19 to April 30 2017 and other activities were carried out later. The construction of RET was conducted based on the recommendation of leading global consultants appointed by a joint working group constituted by Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Check for changes

Passengers taking the post 11 a.m. flights have been requested to check their respective airlines for the flight schedule. A BIAL release also said that all airlines operating flights during this time have been intimated. Passengers can also check for changes to flight operations on www.bengaluruairport.com or follow the twitter handle @BLRAirport.