The secondary runway of Chennai airport will be resurfaced and the work is expected to start in a few weeks.
This move comes in the wake of an audit done by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) a few months back. Sources in the airport said, after a detailed inspection of the airport, the DGCA had found wear and tear in the runway pavement and submitted a report.
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said it was a routine inspection and corrective action had been taken immediately. “This resurfacing has been in the works for a while. It will be done in three phases. While the first two may be completed in about three or four months, the third phase will take longer and is likely to be finished in about six or seven months. We hope to finish the resurfacing work within a year,” an official said.
The secondary runway, whose length is nearly 2,800 m, will go through resurfacing work everyday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. “On Tuesday and Saturday, when the main runway will be closed for maintenance, the secondary runway’s work will be stopped and be used for handling aircraft operations,” he added.
Officials said they had done a bhoomi puja recently and wanted to commence work but the monsoon began, and they decided to put it off for a while till it subsides. The secondary runway, built over a cost of ₹450 crore, had to be extended up to 3,400 m as part of the phase I modernisation carried out a few years back. But due to various reasons, the length now only stands at nearly 2,800 m. The AAI had executed resurfacing work for the main runway some years back.
