At Mumbai airport, plans to build a third runway

Mumbai: With the country witnessing an aviation explosion and more airlines taking to the skies every month—at least half a dozen are lined up in the wings—infrastructural constraints at Mumbai have never been more glaring.
And airline operators are not happy.
‘‘Air Traffic Control delays are costing us,’’ said Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive officer of Jet Airways, mincing no words. ‘‘It costs $2,000 to keep an aircraft in the air. If we are hovering for 30 minutes, we lose $1,000.’’
It’s delays like these that the GVK-led consortium, which is in charge of the upgradation and modernisation of the airport, is hoping to eliminate.
According to a senior Airports Authority of India official, the consortium is hoping a third runway parallel to the main runway will be the solution. Members of the GVK-ACSA consortium declined comment.
The consortium, however, is reportedly studying the feasibility of the plan because it would mean clearing vast tracts of land of encroachments.
09/05/06 Lekha Agarwal/Expressindia.com

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