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.
