The second runway at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru has commenced operations. The first flight took off on the 4000-m long and 45-m wide airstrip on Friday.
In a statement, the KIAL officials said that this makes the Bengaluru airport the first in the country to have two parallel runways that enable simultaneous take-offs.
"It is a historic day for us at BLR Airport as we commenced operations on the new runway. Our first runway opened 11 years ago, and became a linchpin for the region's economic development during the last decade. With the aviation industry in India set for exponential growth, two operational runways will provide the thrust required to cater to this demand and further bolster growth of Karnataka and India," said Hari Marar, CEO and Managing Director of KIAL.
The South Runway will begin with limited operations initially, the statement says, and operations are expected to scale up gradually. The runway will initially have CAT I certification, meant for carrying out landing operations depending on visibility. “As operations stabilise, we will progressively manage CAT III B operations, enabling landing and takeoff in extremely low visibility conditions,” the statement reads.
KIAL has also constructed an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Station with Crash Fire Tenders to cater to any fire-related emergencies on the South Runway. “Over 100 firefighters were recruited from across Karnataka and expert fire engineers from National Fire Safety College, Nagpur,” the statement adds.
Hari Marar in October suggested that the second runway would be operational from as early as October. However, delay in regulatory paperwork led to KIAL pushing the timeline on the operations of the runway
“Regulatory paperwork is under way for the South Runway and associated infrastructure at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru with the first flight expected to operate from the South Runway as soon as the approvals are received,” a Bangalore International Airport Limited’s (BIAL) spokesperson had earlier said.