Recarpeting of Bhubaneswar airport runway postponed by month

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has postponed the commencement of recarpeting of the runway at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here by a month, a senior official said. Instead of November 1, the recarpeting work would begin from December 1, BPIA Director S C Hota said.

"Due to the work, the airport would be partially shut from 10.30 pm to 5.30 am every day from December 1 till March 31 next year," he said. Flights will be rescheduled from December, he said, adding the runway would be closed in two phases.

The delay in the commencement of the work is because of internal matters of the AAI, Hota said. The AAI had earlier announced partial closure of the airport from November 1 till March 31 next year.

"We hope to complete the recarpeting work within the deadline of March 31, 2020," he said. Hota said the recarpeting of the runway is essential for the safety of flight operations as the last such work was done in 2007.

He said connecting of the parallel taxi track with the runway is also being planned. Tour operators were not happy with the planned regulation of flights from November 1 during the tourist season, J K Mohanty, president of Hotels and Restaurant Association of Odisha, said..

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