Come June, flight delays and airside congestion are likely to be reduced at Chennai airport as an important taxiway will finally be put to use after four years. The straightening of “Bravo” taxiway, which has been going on for four years, has been completed and will become operational in two months as the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has finally given its approval.
In 2018, AAI took up the work to straighten the curve in this taxiway — that runs parallel to the main runway — since it delayed the movement of aircraft which were proceeding to the main runway from the terminal.
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said one of the major advantages of straightening this taxiway is flights landing or taking off from the Guindy end of the runway can travel faster between the main runway and the terminal, thereby saving time and fuel. “Sometimes, during peak hour congestion, aircraft may have to wait for 7 to 10 minutes to taxi between the terminal and the runway. Now, with the Bravo, it will be faster,” an official said.
Only a few weeks ago, the DGCA had inspected the runway and made some observations. After the corrective action, the safety clearance was issued last week, sources said. Although this work should have been completed in two years, it got delayed by two years because of the pandemic.
As part of the modernisation project that has been under implementation, two rapid exit taxiways are being built now. Once that is finished and cross runway is also opened for traffic (simultaneous operations of aircraft on main and secondary runway), then the airport will handle close to 45 aircraft an hour from the present 36.
The completion of Bravo taxiway to remove airside congestion assumes significance as the airport authorities are looking to handle more number of passengers and plan to open the new integrated terminal.
