Click to play videoNew Delhi: It was a memorable day for Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport when it was testing its third runway on Thursday.
It’s one of the longest runways in Asia and promises to end the congestion in the skies.
But the inaugural flight using the Boeing 777 300ER to land had an unwelcome guest that attracted a lot of attention.
The first user of the show case third runway, minutes before this Air India Boeing 777 came in to land happens to be a mongrel.
The Boeing landed after the dog cleared the space, returning the focus to the fact that Delhi has not completely rid of what ails the city.
The Aviation Minister, Praful Patel hopes that this runway will be another milestone in the aviation sector of the country and will end congestion.
“The air traffic is growing and this third runway as you see, will be able to handle up to nearly 60 movements an hour and that can later even increase to up to 70 movements an hour,” said the minister.
The new runway runs parallel to the old one, so simultaneous takeoffs and landings are possible.
Currently, both runways in use converge, allowing either a take off or a landing.
Aircraft movement is expected to rise to 60 every hour from the present 40.
Both sides of the runway are equipped with the state-of-the-art category 3B landing system, which can help land an aircraft safely even at low visibilities.
The runway was completed in a record 15 months.
Even large birds like the Airbus A380 will find the runway of 4,430 metres a comfortable length.
This is India’s largest and one of the continent’s largest runway strips.
With the first trial landing on Thursday successfully completed, most of the tests are over.
Actual operations will start by the end of August and that is when the clear picture will emerge.
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