The Airport Authority of India (AAI) will begin recarpeting work of the runway at Calicut International Airport on January 15. The recarpeting of the 2.86-km runway is expected to be completed in six months.
As the runway will be closed for operations during the day, all daytime flights will be rescheduled to night. However, according to airport officials, the closure of the runway from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will not have any major impact on the night traffic.
Airport Director Seshadrivasam Suresh, in a statement here on Wednesday, requested the passengers to check with their respective airlines about the departure and arrival timing of their flights.
Mr. Suresh said that periodic recarpeting of the runway was mandatory for smooth flight operations. It was in 2015 that the 2,860-metre-long runway at the airport was recarpeted last.
Although the work had been scheduled for six months, it could take nearly a year to complete the work because of the rain. “We are scheduling the work from January considering the weather. We cannot afford to do any work in rain,” said Mr. Suresh.
“There is no question of closing any part of the runway for more than eight hours,” he said. “The work will be arranged in such a way as to make the runway ready for landing and take-off by 6 p.m. every day.”
Although Calicut airport has 80 to 90 flight movements every day, only 10 flights are currently operated between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Airport officials said that rescheduling of those 10 flights would not cause any crowding. They said the airport had the capacity to handle additional night traffic.
However, if late-night or early morning flights are delayed, it can cause bunching up at the terminals. “That too can be rare,” said Mr. Suresh.
The taxiway at the airport too will be recarpeted along with the runway. However, there will be no retarring of the tarmac in the ₹60-crore recarpeting project.
