Bengaluru airport’s elevated taxiway work to commence in Q1 2025: BIAL

Indore Airport gets bomb threat

The new elevated taxiway at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), which will improve aircraft movement efficiency, will be completed in three years after work commences in the first quarter of 2025, a senior official said.

“The design for the western-cross field taxiway is almost complete, and we are in discussions with contractors as part of the tender process. Work is expected to begin in early 2025, with operations (on the new elevated taxiway) planned to commence within 36 months,” Satyaki Raghunath, chief operating officer, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), which operates KIA, told Moneycontrol.

This project involves the construction of two new parallel taxiways, each around 1.4 km in length, connecting the existing North and South runways on the west side.

The taxiways will be able to accommodate both Code F (planes with a wingspan between 65 and 80 meters, such as the Airbus A380) and Code E (aircraft with a wingspan between 52 and 65 meters, such as the Boeing 777). The proposed taxiways will cross city-side roads in the central area, including overpasses of the North Cargo Road, Main Access Road, the proposed metro corridor (Blue Line connecting KR Pura and KIA) and the South Access Road.

Also read: Bengaluru airport’s Terminal 1 to get a facelift, work to commence by August

“This will improve airfield circulation and provide additional connectivity between the North and South runways, reducing taxiing times and saving fuel,” said Raghunath.

In July 2023, Delhi's airport became India’s first airport with four operational runways, including a dual elevated taxiway. This helped reduce the time passengers spend inside the plane after landing or before takeoff. It also shortened the taxiing route for airlines, reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Fewer disruptions this winter: BIAL

BIAL has assured that there will be fewer flight disruptions this winter. Fog often causes delays and diversions of flights, resulting in inconvenience to passengers and financial loss to airline operators.

“The North runway (09L - 27R) now has the necessary infrastructure and process approvals for low-visibility takeoff (LVT). The major advantage is that we can use both runways during low visibility conditions this winter, with the North runway for LVTO departures and the CAT-III ILS South runway for arrivals,” said Raghunath.

In December 2020, KIA's South runway became compliant with CAT-IIIB operations, a navigation system that enables aircraft to land in low visibility conditions.

“Earlier, when the RVR (Runway visual Range) dropped below CAT I conditions of 550 metres, we could only use the South runway for both arrivals and departures. Due to increased separation distances between aircraft in poor visibility, capacity was reduced to around 22 ATMs (air traffic movements) per hour" said Raghunath.

"With dual runway operations during low visibility, we can now use the declared capacity of 60 ATMs per hour, as the North runway can be used for LVTO when the RVR is 125 metres or above,” Raghunath explained.

KIA's North runway will soon be CAT-III compliant 

“The North runway's CAT I equipment is now being upgraded to CAT III. Civil works are underway, and while the existing CAT I AFLS (airfield lighting system) on the North runway will be upgraded to CAT III AFLS during resurfacing, the North runway will remain a CAT I runway until then. However, this will not affect low-visibility operations, as LVTO can still be conducted with an RVR of at least 125 metres,” Raghunath said.

He said, “We will be able to utilise the dual runway capacity of 60 ATMs per hour during peak hours. However, outside of peak times, and while civil works are underway to install the new CAT III ILS on the North runway, we will operate a single South runway with a capacity of 43 ATMs per hour."

"Once the civil work near the North runway is completed by the end of December 2024, both runways will be available for full-day operations with a declared capacity of 60 ATMs per hour,” he said.

“From a DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) perspective, on an ILS CAT III runway, the arrival thresholds for RVR are 50m or 75m depending on the type of aircraft. Normally, an RVR of 125m is required for departures. Presently, with the necessary infrastructure and approvals, we require an RVR of at least 125m for LVTO from the North runway,” said Raghunath.

Also read: Clearing the fog: Why flights were able to land but not take off at Delhi airport