The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) has come up with a solution to help aircraft maker Boeing speed up work on its 100 million dollar maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) depot at Mihan.
Boeing's site is close to proposed second runway in Mihan. However, work on the second runway has not taken off. A part of it passes through the Shivangaon village which has not been acquired as the residents are opposing takeover. MADC officials now plan to utilize an old unused runway that crosses the existing airstrip under use. It has been planned to use a part of this runway as taxiway and extend it further up to MRO site.
The new taxiway would be over one kilometre long and have some turns. The old runway intersects the current airstrip and one of its ends faces Boeing site, from which side it could be extended, said a source. A taxiway is a path for plane to reach to reach a particular point after landing
An official note-sheet on this has been put forward at the MADC headquarters for a formal approval. If it is approved, the MRO need not depend on the second runway plan. However, it does not mean that the second runway plan has been dumped. It would be certainly needed once the project expands, said an official in the MADC. A part of the new proposed taxiway will also pass through the land earmarked for the second runway, but that patch is already with MADC, said the source.
A decision on this should be taken fast and it should not be held up like other matters which are still pending after Sinha's exit as the new boss does not appear to be as proactive as his predecessor, said sources.
Meanwhile, Boeing has started the work on MRO project with preliminary surveys beginning in January itself. However, lack of approach had remained a cause of concern. President of Boeing India Dinesh Keskar said that the company found the idea good. All it needed was a taxiway for the aircraft to travel to and from the depot. A full-fledged runway was only needed if an airline service is operated and not for a MRO, he said. "To have a second runway or not is MADC's choice, Boeing would be happy with a taxiway even if it is longer than what was planned earlier," said Keskar.
He said the company had already started work at the site and he would soon be announcing further plans during his visit to Nagpur. Keskar did not mention any specific date however.
The MADC will certainly have to build a second runway as it is also a requirement for the Indian Air Force (IAF), which has its IL-76 base near Mihan. It has been planned that MADC will take the IAF land which is in patches and shift the base to a single large plot. However, the IAF will shift only when the second runway is built as it will need it for the airbase. Until the IAF moves MADC will not get possession of as much as 278 hectares of IAF land. The Mihan master plan has been made keeping the IAF land in consideration.
Boeing's site is close to proposed second runway in Mihan. However, work on the second runway has not taken off. A part of it passes through the Shivangaon village which has not been acquired as the residents are opposing takeover. MADC officials now plan to utilize an old unused runway that crosses the existing airstrip under use. It has been planned to use a part of this runway as taxiway and extend it further up to MRO site.
The new taxiway would be over one kilometre long and have some turns. The old runway intersects the current airstrip and one of its ends faces Boeing site, from which side it could be extended, said a source. A taxiway is a path for plane to reach to reach a particular point after landing
An official note-sheet on this has been put forward at the MADC headquarters for a formal approval. If it is approved, the MRO need not depend on the second runway plan. However, it does not mean that the second runway plan has been dumped. It would be certainly needed once the project expands, said an official in the MADC. A part of the new proposed taxiway will also pass through the land earmarked for the second runway, but that patch is already with MADC, said the source.
A decision on this should be taken fast and it should not be held up like other matters which are still pending after Sinha's exit as the new boss does not appear to be as proactive as his predecessor, said sources.
Meanwhile, Boeing has started the work on MRO project with preliminary surveys beginning in January itself. However, lack of approach had remained a cause of concern. President of Boeing India Dinesh Keskar said that the company found the idea good. All it needed was a taxiway for the aircraft to travel to and from the depot. A full-fledged runway was only needed if an airline service is operated and not for a MRO, he said. "To have a second runway or not is MADC's choice, Boeing would be happy with a taxiway even if it is longer than what was planned earlier," said Keskar.
He said the company had already started work at the site and he would soon be announcing further plans during his visit to Nagpur. Keskar did not mention any specific date however.
The MADC will certainly have to build a second runway as it is also a requirement for the Indian Air Force (IAF), which has its IL-76 base near Mihan. It has been planned that MADC will take the IAF land which is in patches and shift the base to a single large plot. However, the IAF will shift only when the second runway is built as it will need it for the airbase. Until the IAF moves MADC will not get possession of as much as 278 hectares of IAF land. The Mihan master plan has been made keeping the IAF land in consideration.
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