Delhi international airport inaugurates third runway - amongst the longest in Asia

New Delhi: The third runway at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here opened for trial runs on Thursday morning with the safe landing of an Air India Boeing 777-300 (ER). At 4,430 metres length, the runway is amongst the longest in Asia.

The aircraft, with the pilot and cabin crew on board for the inaugural flight, first performed a low fly-past and then returned to land 10 minutes later.

Upon landing the aircraft was given the traditional water cannon salute by fire tenders of the airport.

According to civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, who received the aircraft, the new runway would be ready for commercial operations by next month. ''It will take some more time for operations to stabilise. We are committed to providing world-class infrastructure in a time-bound manner. By the end of this year, domestic terminal 1-D will be ready, while the new terminal-3 will come up by early 2010. As of now, flight movement at Delhi airport is 35-40 per hour and it will go up to 60 with the third runway.''

Completed in a record 18 months, more than six months ahead of schedule, the runway is equipped with the CAT IIIB Instrument Landing System at both ends that will allow compatible aircraft to land even when visibility is as low as 50 metres.

The IGI airport has CAT IIIB facility on two runways.

The 4,430 metre Code-F compliant runway can handle wide bodied aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 and Antonov An-225.

Trials will continue till 24 August.

Airport authorities said that a massive 2.3 million cubic metres of soil was removed for laying 650,000 tonnes of asphalt, which would be enough to build a 75-km six-lane expressway.

The runway, costing about Rs1000 crore, has a surface glass grid laid under the concrete to prevent cracks.

The airport is operated by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a GMR Group-led joint venture consortium, which is currently engaged in modernising the airport. GMR Group chairman GM Rao said: ''Runways are roads that lead to the sky and it is our commitment to build infrastructure that paves the way for India's economy to reach new heights.''