Primary runway in city airport operational after a month

kolkata: After a month, the primary runway in Kolkata airport is back in use. The construction of a rapid exit taxiway adjoining the main runway had led to airlines operating from the secondary runway since March 4.

According to an official, it took about an hour to conduct the necessary inspection before normal movements were allowed on the primary runway. The first flight that took off from the main runway was Jaipur-bound. After a few minutes of its take off, another flight landed from Bengaluru, the official added.

As the primary runway was not in use, the per hour handling capacity of the airport had gone down to 17 to 22

over the last few weeks. However, as the runway was opened for operations again, the

per hour capacity increased

to 35. The official claimed

that the airport could go back to its old schedule. At present, as per reports, the airport has about 370 movements of domestic flights per day and a daily operation of about 425 odd flights, including international, cargo and chartered flights.

Meanwhile, the airport operator in Kolkata has reportedly written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to seek a revision in the secondary runway capacity. As per reports, a new committee has been formed to work on the new capacity. Currently, the landing strip has the capacity to handle 15 to 18 movements in an hour. But, when the primary runway was shut last month, air traffic controllers and pilots worked in a manner that they were able to increase the per hour capacity of the second runway to 24. In order to achieve this figure, the central air traffic flow management had ensured that there was no congestion in the air and prevented any flight to be held-up or diverted.