The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, located in Delhi, India is going to make history soon. As per reports, the airport’s fourth runway might become operational from October 2021. This will make the IGI airport India’s first with four operational runways. There are no other airports in the country which have four active runways at the moment. According to an Economic Times report, Delhi’s new runway that is about to become operational soon has a 4,400 metre long and 75-metre wide runway. But the new runway won’t be the biggest in the airport. The third runway which runs parallel to the fourth one is a bit bigger.
Fourth Runway to Ease Pressure on Operations
The footfall in the airport is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as the effects of the pandemic subside and more people open themselves to travel. Thus, the presence of the fourth runway would allow the airport to accommodate more flights and passengers at the same time with relative ease in operations.
It will also reduce the waiting time for the flights and the passengers which many will appreciate. The work on the runway would have been completed much earlier. But due to the second wave of COVID-19 and the lockdowns, the airport had to shut down all the operations including the construction work.
According to a ToI report, the work resumed again in May and the expected time for it to be finished it not more than three months. Once the work is completed, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will inspect the runway and the critical equipment used. If the DGCA gives the green signal, it would mean that the Delhi Airport can go ahead with using it for landings and take-offs of flights after the trials. The trials for the runway could start as early as November this year and if things go smoothly, within a bit of time, the runway would also become completely operational.
