Bengaluru Airport’s (BLR) second runway will start functioning from December 5. In a major expansion at Kempegowda International Airport in Karnataka’s capital, a validation flight has been completed successfully on the newly constructed south runway. Currently, Bengaluru Airport has one runway. Once the second runway becomes operational, Bengaluru Airport will become the second airport in southern India to have two runways.
The validation flights have been successfully conducted to certify aerodrome navigational aids and instrument procedures as determined by Civil Aviation regulations. Operations on the new runway were planned to start on December 5, 2019, Bangalore International Airport Infrastructure Limited (BIAL), that runs the Kempegowda International Airport, said in a statement.
According to BIAL official, the Code F and Cat IIIB compliant runway measures 4000-meter in length and 45-meter in width. It will begin operations initially with CAT I standard certification. It will progressively evolve to CAT IIIB as operations stabilize. BIAL spokesperson said that once infrastructure and procedural improvements are completed, the runways will eventually be used for independent mixed-mode operations. This will allow flights to take-off and land from either runway, the spokesperson said.
This is part of the Rs 13,000 crore infrastructural upgrade programme for Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. Financial Express Online earlier reported that under this ambitious expansion project, a new terminal will be built. A second runway has already been constructed. There will be airport service utilities, a multi-modal transport hub, and internal road infrastructure. The project is expected to be completed by the year 2021.
Earlier in July, paperless boarding facility was started. Passengers boarding flights at Bengaluru airport can do so without showing any travel documents. This is part of the Digi-Yatra project. This allows seamless processing at the entry to the terminal, passenger security screening, and boarding gate.
Recently, Bengaluru Airport became the “world’s first” airport to bag the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality (ACI ASQ) awards for both arrivals and departures for the year 2018.
Source: Financial Express