VIJAYAWADA: The extended runway at Vijayawada International Airport (VIA) became operational on Thursday morning. Air India flight No. AI-459 from New Delhi was the first flight to land the extended runway. The total length of the runway is now 3,360 metre, which could facilitate landing and take off of aircraft such as Boeing 737, 747 and Airbus-30.
“With the commissioning of the Transit Terminal on January 12, 2017, the Centre has embarked on an initial runway expansion project. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has expanded the runway, which included re-carpeting and strengthening the 2,286-metre existing runway and extending it by another 1,074 metres, at a cost of `160 crore,”Airport director G Madhusudana Rao said.
With the extended runway becoming operational, VIA is the largest airport in the State with a runway capable of handling Code-E type aircraft. Second to Vijayawada airport is Visakhapatnam International Airport with 3,048 metre runway. Category-C type aircrafts are handled at the terminal. Besides that, the newly installed Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) was also commissioned in line with the extended runway, he added.