Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated dual elevated Eastern Cross Taxiways and the fourth runway at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Friday. IGIA is operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a consortium led by GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd.
The country's largest airport handles more than 1,500 aircraft movements every day. Now, the airport will have four runways -- RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 10/28 and RW 11L/29R.
About Eastern Cross Taxiways
- The ECT is 2.1 kilometers long and is going to be useful in reducing the time spent on the tarmac by passengers after landing and before the take-off of flights.
- The IGI Airport is the only airport in India to have dual elevated Eastern Cross Taxiways with roads passing below it.
- This is also going to help reduce the waiting time of passengers in the airplane who are waiting to get off.
- The Taxiway connects the northern and southern airfields on the eastern side of the IGI airport. This is going to reduce the taxiing distance for an aircraft by seven kilometers.
- These elevated taxiways are capable of handling big planes, including A-380 and B-777 and they will also help to curtail the annual CO2 emissions by 55,000 tonnes.
(With PTI inputs)
