The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will start the runway repair work at the Calicut International Airport on January 15. The repair of the 2.86 km long runway is expected to be completed in six months.
Since the runway will be closed for operations during the day, the day time flights will be rescheduled at night. However, according to airport officials, the closure of the runway from 10 am to 6 pm will not have any significant impact on the night traffic.
In a statement here on Wednesday, Airport Director Seshadrivasam Suresh urged passengers to check with their respective airlines about the departure and arrival times of their flights.
Shri Suresh said that periodic recarpeting of the runway was essential for smooth flight operations. The 2,860-metre-long runway at the airport was last resurfaced in 2015.
Although the work was scheduled for six months, due to the rains, it could take almost a year to complete the work. “We are scheduling the work from January considering the weather. We cannot do any work in the rain,” said Mr. Suresh.
“There is no question of closing any part of the runway for more than eight hours,” he said. The work will be organized in such a way that the runway can be made ready for landing and take-off by 6 pm every day.
Although Calicut airport handles 80 to 90 flights every day, currently only 10 flights operate between 10 am and 6 pm. He added that the airport has the capacity to handle the additional night traffic.
However, if late night or early morning flights are delayed, it can lead to bunching at the terminals. “That too may be rare,” Mr. Suresh said.
The taxiway at the airport will also be remodeled along with the runway. However, the asphalt will not be re-tarred in the ₹60 crore recarpeting project.