Aircraft taking off from Chennai airport can save fuel and time as two more taxiways ‘Romeo’ and ‘November’ became operational on Thursday. While taxiway R will serve as a parallel route to the main runway, the taxiway N will run parallel to the secondary runway and help reduce taxiing time for flights and fuel consumption. An Air India flight from Delhi was the first to use them.
Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the work on these two taxiways started about two years ago and the extension of the R taxiway to connect it to the Guindy end of the main runway was completed in June. “We are now handling about 20 to 25 flights an hour and this will increase with these two taxiways in use. But the extent of increase will be known when we do a study to see how many flights can be handled. Also, another important reason for commissioning them is to ensure that the parking bays in the remote area (between the main and secondary runways) are efficiently used,” an official said.
Airlines usually hesitate to use the remote bays as it causes inconvenience to passengers who have to wait longer and take a bus to reach the terminal on arrival. “These taxiways can be used for handling Code F aircraft (which can carry nearly 500-700 passengers). So far, on a few occasions during COVID-19, we handled a cargo Code F aircraft and then before that, when the Chinese delegation arrived in the city,” an official said.
A few rapid exit taxiways are under construction and the straightening of taxiway ‘Bravo’ is almost over. When all these become operational at a time when passenger traffic is touching the pre COVID-19 levels, it will be easier to handle and bring down the air traffic congestion.
