‘Reconstruction of old runway at KIA to be over by Feb end’

Bengaluru: Reconstruction of the old runway of Kempegowda International Airport would be completed by the end of February, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said here on Monday.

The DCM, who reviewed the progress of the work, said it had almost been completed and was in the final stage.

At present flights make use of the new runway and the reconstructed one would be available for the public by the end of March, he was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

Mumbai-based AIC Infrastructure has reconstructed the runway ‘in a record shortest duration’ at a cost of Rs 260 crores, he said, adding that lights have been installed along the four km long midsection to facilitate increased convenience for movement of flights.

In addition to this taxiway, UGD and airfield light facilities have been put in place, he added.

Noting that KIA would be able to handle 60-75 lakh travelers annually after this runway is functional, he said it would increase the revenue of KIA and added that the COVID 19 pandemic has caused huge losses to the Airport Authority.

The number of travelers in KIA before the pandemic outbreak was around 33 million annually, which came down to around 12 Million due to the COVID 19 situation, he said.

The numbers may see a rise in the days to come, he said.