Bengaluru Airport’s runway upgradation work completed

August 16, 2017: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has announced the conclusion of the runway upgradation work which was taken up in February this year to support the growing air traffic at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport). The runway upgradation included building of two Rapid Exit Taxiways (RET) to increase runway capacity. The runway has the capability of handling 34 Air Traffic Movements (ATM) per hour. With the addition of the two RETs, the per hour capacity increases to 38 ATMs and will progressively increase to 44 ATMs per hour.

BIAL has taken into view the long-term benefit of increased capacity for the upcoming seasons till the second runway becomes available. The second runway will be ready for operations by September 2019. The construction of the Rapid Exit Taxiways was conducted based on the recommendation of leading global consultants appointed by a joint working group constituted by MoCA.

The upgradation work was carried out in a phased manner in certain parts, involving closure of the runway, and in other parts, partial closure of facilities without any impact on airport operations. Major works were undertaken from February 19, 2017 to April 30, 2017, while the balance activities were carried out subsequently, with minimal impact to airport operations.

The commissioning work along with the related preparatory works in order to commission the RETs, are being carried out on August 17 from 06:00 hrs.- 1530 hrs. IST. Flights are anticipated to be delayed by approximately 20 minutes for the period between 11:00 hrs. - 1430 hrs. IST. All airlines with scheduled operations during this time have received prior information on the impact. Passengers are requested to check with their airlines on flight schedule.