The re-carpeting work of the main runway of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSMIA) is on schedule, with nearly 60% of the work having been completed. The main runway, also known as runway 09/27, has thus been shut for eight hours a day, six days a week, since November 4, leading to flight cancellations.
Officials at Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said they were on track with completing the work by March 28. The work on runway 09/27, which runs west to east, has been split into two parts, with the 2-km stretch from the western end being taken up first. Officials said work on this stretch will be completed by January 15, after which work will be taken up on the 1-km stretch from the eastern end.
Due to the re-carpeting work, around 26 flights are being cancelled every day as the airport uses the secondary runway, runway 14/32, during the day. The declared capacity of the primary runway is around 46 flights per hour, while the secondary one can manage up to 36 flights per hour.
Officials said one of the reasons why cancellations have been curtailed is the rapid exit taxiway. “Previously all the wide-body aircrafts had to reverse on the runway, which used to take up a lot of time. It was constructed last year, keeping in mind the runway re-carpeting work that we had to undertake and has reduced runway occupancy time drastically,” an MIAL official said. The new taxiway has been built allowing for a faster removal of the aircraft after landing. Officials said the speed on other taxiways would typically be around 20 kmph as it involved a 90-degree turn, where as the new taxiway allowed for speeds of up to 93 kmph.
In March 2019, MIAL completed the resurfacing of the intersection of runways 09/27 and 14/32 as Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 was to complete the resurfacing of runway 09/27 by March 28 this year. In 2020-21, MIAL will take up the re-carpeting of runway 14/32. However, the work is not expected to have any major impact on airport operations.
