Gujarat : Air India Express aircraft met with accident at Surat airport, Delay in Taxiway construction blamed

Surat : An Air India Express flight (VT-ATJ) arriving from Sharjah struck a parked dumper truck on the unfinished PTT while taxiing to the apron, sustaining damage to its wing. The extent of the damage forced the aircraft to be grounded, but fortunately, there were no reports of injuries among the passengers.

The Surat airport officials are facing scrutiny following a major incident on the runway caused by significant delays in the completion of the Parallel Taxi Track (PTT).

This accident has reignited concerns raised by airport activists for months regarding the prolonged construction of the PTT, which has been ongoing for the past six years. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an investigation into the incident, with a team of officials visiting the site on Friday to inspect the PTT and the damaged aircraft.

Meanwhile, Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, visited the Surat International Airport to assess the facilities at the recently expanded terminal building.

However, airport activists have expressed frustration over the delays in completing the crucial PTT project. They raise critical questions: who benefits from the lack of a complete 4-km runway? Why hasn’t the necessary land been acquired? Why is it seemingly advantageous to keep Surat’s airport unfinished?

“Runway expansions are happening all over the country and abroad. Even after planning for one in Surat, there’s no progress,” lamented an activist. The construction of the parallel taxi track commenced in 2019, but inexplicably remains incomplete even after six years.

Sources claim that these extended delays in PTT construction have resulted in frequent flight disruptions at Surat International Airport. On February 28th and 29th, several flights were forced to hold for nearly half an hour due to runway occupancy by other aircraft.