India’s first elevated taxiway to be built at IGI Airport

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport will become the first Indian airport to get an elevated taxiway, which will help bring down the time that an aircraft takes to reach a runway.

As per airport officials, the 2.5 km Eastern Cross Taxiway will connect Runway 10-28 on the side of domestic terminal 1-D with Runway 11-29 at T3, and will pass over the central spinal road connecting the two terminals. The taxiway is expected to start working by 2020.

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"It will allow flexibility in the use of runways and assist in balancing the flight traffic on them, particularly during the busy hours," a spokesperson from Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) told TNN, adding that the construction would be part of Phase 3A (2016-20) Development Programme of Master Plan 2016.

The taxiway will be able to accommodate aircrafts as big as Airbus A380, will be significant in saving fuel, given that the planes would have to travel lesser distance to reach their take-off points. As of now, runway 11-29 is preferred because of its proximity to the international terminal. If an aircraft is coming from the runway 10-28, it has to crawl for about 20-25 minutes, covering the Western Link.

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