Delhi Airport’s raised runway to be prepared by December 2022. Here’s the means by which it will assist with decreasing fossil fuel byproduct

KEY STORY

• Delhi Airport’s elevated taxiway, which is first of its kind in India, is likely to be ready by December 2022, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in a statement on Wednesday. DIAL said 60% of the construction work of the elevated eastern cross taxiway (ECT) is already complete and the remaining work will be done before the above deadline.

• The ECT will reduce the aircraft taxiing distance by seven kilometers, helping in carbon emission. “At present, after landing at RWY 29/11 or to take-off from this runway, an aircraft has to cover a distance of about 9 km. During this period, passengers have to remain inside the plane,” the DIAL said.

• The ECT will help airlines to save approximately 350 kg of fuel every time an aircraft uses the taxiing route provided by the ECT from runway 29/11 to Terminal 1 and vice-versa. It will help decongest the airport and reduce approximately 55,000 tonnes of carbon emission annually.

• “This would translate in reduction of nearly 1,114 kg of CO2 emissions for each aircraft taxiing along this route. Annually, the ECT is estimated to reduce emission of approximately 55,000 tonnes of CO2 from aircraft,” the GMR group-led company said in the statement.

• DIAL has ensured that an environment-friendly approach is followed in the construction of ECT. It has used fly ash, a waste product of coal-fired power plants, in the filling material.

• “It is using around 9,715 MT of fly ash in the construction of ECT. If not used, fly ash is disposed in specially designed landfills which could lead to leaching of heavy metals into ground water,” the DIAL stated.

• The use of fly ash is recognised as an environment-friendly measure as it promotes waste reutilisation and ensures that other raw materials used in construction can be reduced, thus making our construction process environment friendly, DIAL said.

• Under Phase 3A, the DIAL is also constructing 4.4-kilometre-long fourth runway, parallel to runway 11/29 on the southern side.

• Once commissioned, the fourth runway would handle the increased traffic movement and help reduce carbon emission and Delhi airport would become the first airport in India to have four operational runways.

CONCLUSION

• To fulfill its ambition of becoming a net zero carbon emission airport, the DIAL has initiated a number of key infrastructure development projects. One of these initiatives is the development of the ECT.

• “Construction of dual eastern cross taxiways, the first of its kind in India, will not only reduce significant amount of carbon emissions but also enhance passenger experience. This is another step towards our goal of becoming a net zero carbon airport by 2030,” I Prabhakar Rao, deputy managing director of Delhi-based GMR Group which currently runs the Delhi and Hyderabad international airports, said.

• “The ECT, an integral part of Delhi airport’s Phase-3A expansion project, would make Delhi airport future-ready. After completion of this project, the airport would be able to handle 140 million passengers per annum (MPPA),” Rao said.