RUNWAY 14 Rarely-used landing strip that can save crores

 

 

 

OVER Rs 200 crore can be saved if Runway 14, which is rarely used at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, is put to use for landing and take-off, a cartographic study has pointed out. Presently, majority of flights are using the Runway 32, which the study says is “incorrect Landing Direction” consuming additional time and fuel worth over Rs 200 crore a year. The runway at Nagpur airport is 3.2 kms long. Its ends are named as 32 END (from Wardha Road side) and 14 END (Jaitala side). The study titled “Incorrect Landing Direction at Nagpur Airport Costing Crores to Many,” conducted by Sandeep Shirkhedkar, a Cartographer and Social Engineering Expert, stated that in Nagpur airport, most of the landings were happening from 32 END (Runway 32), which is causing additional delays in arrival of flights in the airport. Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad are closer to 14 END than the 32 END. Similarly, places like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad are closer to 32 END.

 

However, most of the flights coming from all these cities are landing via 32 END as 14 END is rarely used. Annually 7,488 flights land and 2,860 flights takeoff from the ‘incorrect’ runway END, claimed the study. It also stated that daily 5,196 passengers and yearly more than 18 lakh are affected by incorrect landing at the airport. On an average, 30 daily arrivals and 30 departures take place at Nagpur airport. Annually, there are 1,11,80 flights arriving at Nagpur departing the same day. The authorities are handling more than 10,400 passengers daily at the airport and the annual number is more than 35 lakh. According to Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), which is a multinational information technology company providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry and has 400 members and 2,500 customers worldwide, “Every minute counts during turnaround, especially at the landing stage. Delaying an aircraft’s arrival or departure can significantly impact an airline’s schedule and operations, leading to financial losses and reputational damage. In fact, airlines can incur considerable costs for each minute of delay.”

 

“For this study, we observed flight tracking logs of more than 100 flights and it revealed that incorrect landing attracts 10.2 minutes of delay,” Sandeep Shirkhedkar told ‘The Hitavada’. “At Nagpur, 3.9 minutes of taxi time is saved when the aircraft lands from 14 END. This also saves time for passengers and reduces the costs of airlines,” said the Cartographer. He also said that the total delay because of incorrect landing was 14.1 minutes including for flight time and taxi time saving. As per authorities, wind condition plays a key role in landing and takeoff of flights at any airport. However, wind analysis of Nagpur city mentioned in the study, which was provided by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), suggests that wind condition at Nagpur is equally favourable for landing and takeoff from both the ends as wind speed never crosses the threshold level. Therefore, both runways can be used for landing and takeoff of flights. Whereas, the airport authority allows majority of flights to land from 32 END (from Wardha Road side). One of the major reasons for less landing from 14 END is absence of Instrumented Landing System (ILS) at this end, the study states.

 

The 32 END is equipped with this system and therefore the ATC allows flights to land from 32 END to reduce risk. ILS is a precision radio navigation system used to guide aircraft to a runway, particularly during low visibility or adverse weather conditions. A senior officer of MIHAN India Limited (MIL), that runs the Nagpur airport, confirmed that one side of the runway has no ILS system.

 

“A state-of-the-art ILS shall be established as early as possible on 14 END in Nagpur airport. Till that time, with the available resources, system landing or visual landing shall be promoted from Jaitala side,” appealed Shirkhedkar. The study further claimed that lack of median lightning is another reason for preferring 32 END for night landing. However, the authorities denied the claim. The study has been shared with the Chief Minister Office (CMO) and IndiGo to rectify the issue. The CMO has assured to take appropriate steps to solve the issue.