In a bid to reduce congestion on the runway and help aircraft take off/land fast, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has begun building a rapid exit way from the airstrip for flights to move to the parking stands faster. The Rs 16 crore angular taxi track work is expected to be ready by October.
“We had planned construction of angular taxi track as part of airport expansion. But for some reasons we could not take it up then. Two months back, we started constructing it.
It will be ready in another two months,” said Chennai airport director H. S. Suresh. To be named angular F1 taxi track, it would connect main runway (07 and 25) with taxi track B at the city airport.
“The city airport has long been wanting a rapid exit taxiway so that pilots can vacate a runway without slowing down the aircraft soon after landing,” said a pilot, who added that planes such as Airbus 380 and Boeing 747-800 would have to slow down completely to negotiate sharp turns on the taxiway.
“While the angular taxi track will help clear the aircraft from the runway quicker, we will also be able to depart faster from the 07 (Pallavaram) side of runway by using this new taxi track,” said a senior Air India pilot.
According to International Civil Aviation organisation, an aircraft should vacate the runway within 90 seconds.
Another pilot noted that building angular taxi track is crucial for the growth of the airport. “It will considerably reduce the time an aircraft spends on the runway, optimising the tarmac for other planes.
Despite huge investment, it is worth the productivity without compromising safety for all users, including airport authority, airline operators and air passengers,” he added.