India’s first independent parallel runways, becomes operational at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru.

BENGALURU: on Thursday marked a milestone moment for the Kempegouda international Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru with the first flight taking off from the New south parallel runway (NSPR) at 4.37pm. The first flight to take off from the new runway was indigo flight 6E 466 from Bengaluru to Hyderabad which took off from the second runway at 4.37pm, on Friday.

The new runway will be coded RWY 09R/27L, while the existing runway will be renamed RWY 09L/27R (from RWY 09/27).

Once fully functional, the new runway will facilitate flight operations at close to zero visibility (50m) conditions owing to its Cat-III-B ILS (Category 3 Instrument Landing Systems). This will also eliminate the possibility of fog-induced delays and diversion in the airport, which is a common feature during the winter months

The new runway will also be able to allow the landing of Airbus A380 or any other advanced aircraft being 4,000 metres long and 45 metres wide

Once the new runway is fully functional, the existing runway will be closed down for repairs for close to a year, as it has been operational for over a decade. When the existing runway is also ready for operation, the airport authority will use both the runways as per requirement.

With the operationalization of the new runway, the Bengaluru airport has become the first in the country to operate independent parallel runways, enabling aircraft to land and take off simultaneously on both runways.

Courtesy : Times of india