India’s first Elevated Cross Taxiway for planes thrown open at Delhi airport

India’s first Elevated Cross Taxiway (ECT) for planes was inaugurated at Delhi airport along with a 4th runway by Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today which will increase the capacity of the airport to handle traffic.

“This runway makes Delhi Airport the only airport in the country to have four runways. With this comes responsibility. With ECT, we will reduce 55,000 tonnes of Carbon emissions annually. We are for growth, we are for cresting new horizons but in a sustainable way, keeping with the Prime Minister’s impetus to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2070,” the minister said.

The new runway, spanning 4.4 kilometers, runs parallel to the third runway (11/29) on the Southern side.

The elevated cross taxiway (ECT) will reduce the distance that an aircraft has to cover after landing on the runway and going to T1 to 2.1 km from 9 km at present.

The 2.1 km-long ECT is capable of handling two planes simultaneously and will reduce the time a passenger spends in the aircraft after landing or before take-off by almost half, bringing it down from 20 to 25 minutes at present to 10-12 minutes.

This will also result in the saving costly jet fuel, cut aircraft emissions and enhance operational efficiency of the airport.

The ECT gives passengers heading to the airport through the central spine road or the Radisson road a view of the aircraft taxiing above them, which is similar to Singapore’s Changi International airport.