Flyers travelling from and to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai must take note that the main runway will remain closed from November 4 to March 28, 2020. The mandatory closure time of the main runway at the Mumbai airport has been fixed at eight hours per day except for Sundays and select days. The move comes to allow for recarpeting work that needs to be carried out on the main runway in the Mumbai airport.

Mumbai has the country’s second busiest airport that handled 48.5 million domestic and international passengers in 2017-18, according to Association of Private Airport Operators report. There are two runways in Mumbai airport – one main runway, and one secondary runway.

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GVK Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), that operates Mumbai International airport, has stated that the main runway ‘RWY 09/27’ would be opened for operations on Sundays. Apart from this, the runway will remain open on select days, including Christmas on December 25, and New Year. The authority has also announced that the runway will also remain open for operations on January 15, February 19 and 21, March 10 and 25 on account of public holidays and festivals. The closure time for the main runway has been fixed between 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM on six days every week. The runway will be closed due to “re-carpeting work” as well as “major rehabilitation”. The MIAL stated that due to closure of RWY 09/27, RWY 14/32 will be available for aircraft operations, as per PTI report.

What is re-carpeting work?

While building the infrastructure of the airports, runways remain absolutely crucial. Runways are built following international standards. However, due to frequent take-offs and landings as well as operations of heavy aircraft, the runway surface is adversely affected. The re-carpeting work needs to be done to mend the wear and tear for the security of the aircraft and passengers.

Earlier this year, Mumbai airport authority announced that the repair work of the runway would start from November 1. However, finally, it is getting started on November 4.