Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated Delhi airport’s fourth runway and its dual elevated cross taxiway, which is expected to raise aircraft movement at the airport from 1,500 to 2,000 per day.
A ceremonial water cannon salute was accorded to an Air India plane to mark the operationalisation of the fourth runway. Flight AI 821 took off from the new runway, heading for Srinagar.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is the first in the country to have a fourth runway, as well as a dual elevated cross taxiway, which is a passage for aircraft to move from their parking stands to the runway and vice versa before take-off and after landing. The cross taxiway will connect the northern and the southern parts of the airfield, and since it is elevated, vehicular traffic can pass under it. It will reduce taxiing time for aircraft by eight to nine minutes, Mr. Scindia said.
Busiest airport
Along with the expansion of passenger terminal buildings, which is expected to be completed soon, the new runway and taxiway are expected to increase the airport’s passenger handling capacity from the current 70 million per year to 109 million per year, he added.
“This would crest and beat even Atlanta in its capability. With that capacity in place, we would be well positioned both on an infrastructure side and a capability side for creating the international civil aviation hub in India,” Mr Scindia said.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the U.S. is currently the world’s busiest airport, with 75.7 million passengers annually.
