In October, this website had reported that Bengaluru is likely to commission second runway on 5th December. An official NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) has been issues which states that Runway 09R will be operational daily from 1400hrs to 1530 hours local time, on all days except Tuesdays. The airfield is closed for operations on Tuesdays between 1230hrs to 1500hrs for routine maintenance.
A2840/19 NOTAMN Q) VOMF/QMRLT/IV/NBO/A/000/999/ A) VOBL B) 1912050830 C) 2003091000 D) 0830-1000 DLY EXC EV TUE E) RWY09R AVBL FOR LTD OPS BTN 0830 AND 1000 FOR DEP ONLY WHEN VIS IS 5000M AND ABV.DEP TO TAX VIA C-N-D-P-H FOR RWY09R. RWY09R/27L NOT AVBL FOR OPS BEYOND THESE TIMINGS
This runway has CAT III-B lighting in place but would not start CAT III-B operations immediately. Disruptions at Bengaluru have been common in the last few seasons and the number of affected passengers has only increased as the airport has seen increase in traffic over the years.
The airport will also increase Air Traffic Movements (ATM) with immediate effect. The new NOTAM, valid till 25th February states that the airfield can handle a maximum of 40 movements, a mix of arrivals and departures. The maximum number of arrivals or departures is capped at 27.
Bengaluru was one of the handful of airports in the country which wasn’t impacted by the fall of Jet Airways, with the airport reporting steady and increasing numbers since April’19 – the month the airline went down. However, the airport has been slow in terms of building infrastructure. The airport had to partially shut operations twice in the past for runway repairs and the second runway took more time to build than what was needed to build the entire airport and first runway.
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