The Gwalior Air Base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) became the first IAF base to get a second operational runway, parallel to the first, on Wednesday. Air Marshal GS Kochar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Air Command inaugurated the second runway at Gwalior which also inducted the Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft on Wednesday.
According to the Ministry of Defense, three Sukhois from the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in Bareilly, the IAF’s Top Gun institution, were the first aircraft to land on the new runway. Gwalior also operates the Mirage-2000 and MiG-21 Bis aircraft.
The ministry’s statement said,”Two parallel runways would allow the flexibility to launch and recover multiple aircraft simultaneously towards large operational missions and also enhance the existing air traffic handling capability. This will also result in considerable savings to the exchequer due to reduced fuel consumption as aircraft will be able to launch and recover at a faster rate.”
Construction of the runway began in 2009.
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