From February 12 to 26, 2018, the Chandigarh International Airport will remain closed. The main reasons for the closure? Runway repairs made by the Indian Air Force(IAF). The re-carpeting and resurfacing is being done for accommodating wide-bodied aircraft and installation of the CAT III instrument landing system.
Currently, the runway remains shut from Monday to Saturday, 4 pm – 5 am. No flights operate on Sundays.
This means no civil or military aircraft will operate from Chandigarh during this interval. This will be causing inconvenience to a lot of passengers.
Deepesh Joshi, the public relations officer (PRO) of Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL), confirmed this in a public statement. The statement further said it was compulsory to shut down the runway for completion of repairs.
Important Highlights of the Runway Repairs
- Extension of runway length – from 9,000 feet to 10,400 feet,
- Accommodation of wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 777, 787 and 747, made possible on extended runway,
- Due to the above two features, operation of long haul flights from Chandigarh to places in Europe, the USA, Canada and the UK would be made possible.
- Installation of CAT III instrument landing system. This would assist in aircraft landing when visibility is low and hence increase the safety.
There has also been a recent hearing of the airport case at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Division Bench was informed that on two occasions, the airport would remain shut for 15 days each.
(News Source – The Tribune)
(Image Credits – Google Images)
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