Bengaluru international airport runway upgraded

Bengaluru, Dec 31: The second runway of Kempegowda international airport here has been upgraded to facilitate smooth operation of flights even during low visibility.

Inclement weather and foggy conditions will now have minimal impact on the movement of aircraft, the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which operates the airport said in a statement.

Aiding smooth operations during low visibility are the newly-installed advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS), Airfield Ground Lights (AGL), meteorological equipment such as Transmissometre, Automatic Weather Observatory Station (AWOS), Surface Movement Radar (SMR) and other navigational aids, it added.

The south runway is now category III B compliant and can facilitate aircraft landing with a runway visual range as low as 50 meters and take-offs at 125 metres.

Until now, the permissible visual range was 550 m and 300 m, for landing and take-off, respectively. According to BIAL, the new landing facility makes the airport the only one in south India and sixth in the country that is CAT IIIB certified.