The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sought the approval of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to carry out works of the runway end safety area (RESA) at the Calicut International Airport.
This follows a safety assessment meeting with different stakeholders, including airline companies, at the airport on Friday. The existing runway length of the airport is 2,850m and the RESA is just 90m at both ends, which is against the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) of the DGCA.
All airports have been asked to comply with the Court of Inquiry Recommendations that looked into the accident of Air India Express at Mangalore airport in May 2010. Thus the length of the tabletop runway at Calicut airport will be reduced to 2,700m with the revision in the RES, but it offers a glimmer of hope for stakeholders demanding the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the airport. Airport Director J.T. Radhakrishna said that a report based on the safety assessment meeting would be sent to the DGCA for approval. The RESA would be increased to 240m and runway strip to 150 m. “The AAI has not set a time frame for commencing the works. However, certain measures, including major electrical and associated civil works, have to be carried out in connection with the changes,” he said. Representatives of Air India, Indigo, Saudia, Spice Jet and Jet Airways took part in the meeting, said Mr. Radhakrishna who chaired it.
Reliable sources said that the AAI would solicit suggestions from all airline companies for the operation of Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Based on a study, a combined meeting of all these companies would be convened for the purpose. Last month, AAI and DGCA officials had given clearance for the operation of Boeing 777-200 aircraft since the aeroplane reference field length for the baseline aircraft is within the available runway length of the Calicut airport. However, they said that suitability might be determined based on actual aircraft configuration available with the airlines intending to commence operations.
AAI and DGCA officials had also looked into the possibility of operating Code E ( wide-bodied) aircraft and they had said that runway length was not adequate for the operations of most of the wide-bodied Code E aircraft.
Earlier, a meeting of the AAI and the DGCA with the State government officials had also reviewed the status on land acquisition for the extension of runway, apron and associated facilities for developing the aerodrome facilities to resume the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the airport.