A part of Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport will be closed for nine hours every day from Monday onwards due to planned ‘recarpeting work’ on the runway. At least 52 flights arriving and departing from the airport will be rescheduled during the entire duration.
As per the airport officials, the work will begin today and go on till May 31 this year. The resurfacing work will be carried out on all days, barring Sundays and public holidays, from 9 am to 6 pm.
The work was supposed to begin in November 2021 but got delayed due to the festive season.
Airport officials have taken steps to ensure that minimal revision of flight schedules takes place during this time so that passengers do not face inconvenience.
“The work will include runway overlaying, runway strip grading and slope assessment, runway end safety area (RESA) grading and slope assessment, along with storm water drain construction and reinstallation of signages in the maneuvering area,” read a statement issued by an airport spokesperson.
“Runway maintenance closures are mandatory procedures in line with international safety standards to ensure aircraft safety and increase runway life,” it added.
Meanwhile, Gujarat registered 10,150 fresh coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, raising the state tally to 9,26,240, the health department stated.
There were eight Covid-19 fatalities, one of the highest tolls in a single day in recent months. With this, the death toll climbed to 10,159 in Gujarat including two each in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar and one death each was reported from Vadodara and Tapi districts, the state bulletin read.
