First flight takes off from new runway of Kempegowda International Airport

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The Kempegowda International Airport here commenced operations on the new South Runway with the landing of the first flight on the 4,000-metres long and 45-metres wide airstrip on Friday.

This makes the BLR Airport the first in the country to operate independent parallel runways, enabling aircraft to land or take-off simultaneously on both runways, it said in a statement.

"It is a historic day for us at BLR Airport as we commenced operations on the new runway," said Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Limited, operator of the BLR Airport.

Our first runway opened 11 years ago, and became a linchpin for the region's economic development during the last decade. With the aviation industry in India set for exponential growth, two operational runways will provide the thrust required to cater to this demand and further bolster growth of Karnataka and India", he said.

The South Runway will begin with limited landings and take offs before gradually scaling up flight operations.

The runway will initially have CAT I certification, and, as operations stabilise, will progressively manage CAT III B operations, enabling landing and takeoff in extremely low visibility conditions, it was stated.