New Delhi: A third runway was inaugurated at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday, with fire tenders extending a traditional water cannon salute to an Air India Boeing-777 that became the first aircraft to touch down at the 4,430-metre strip - the longest in the country.
The 75-metre-wide runway, which the developers, the GMR Group, claim has been readied six months ahead of schedule, gets the technical name "11-29" and is among the longest in Asia. It is capable of handling new generation aircraft like the Airbus A380.
"Together with the Terminal 3 integrated passenger area we are building, the new runway will be India's new gateway to the world when it welcomes participants at the 2010 Commonwealth Games," said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, the business chairman of GMR for airport projects.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and G.M. Rao, chairman of the GMR Group, were also present.
The airport project is being implemented by the Delhi International Airport Limited - a consortium led by GMR that also includes the state-run Airports Authority of India, Germany's Fraport, Malaysian Airport and India Development Fund.
A stray dog caused a stir during the inaugural function when it ran on to the tarmac just minutes before the scheduled landing of the Air India flight. It was chased away by baton-wielding security guards.
The runway, the officials, said would double the airport's peak-hour capacity from 35-40 landings and take-offs to around 75. The existing two runways handle nearly 700 flights a day.
