Surat Airport Runway Expansion Marred by Gas Pipelines

Surat : While the denizens in the diamond city of Surat, which is the fastest growing economy in India, have been deprived of international and domestic air connectivity as the Surat airport is unable to cater to the wide-body and long-distance aircraft, the We Work for Working Airport at Surat (WWWAS) has urged the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for providing technical solutions to allow the runway extension while protecting the gas pipelines owned by ONGC and GSPC passing from the airport. 

Surat International Airport with 2905 mts length of its runway can’t further be extended towards Dumas side (Sea Side) despite availability of sufficient land. The extension on the Durnas side has been hindered due to the presence of gas pipelines owned by ONGC and GSPC. The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, has published a gazette notification that restricts any activities near these lines, including their relocation.

While safety is paramount, WWWAS believe technical solutions can be developed to allow the runway extension while protecting the gas pipelines. The WWWAS has proposed that the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas considers an amendment to the existing gazette notification to allow the construction of a protective heavy duty culvert over the gas lines or any other highly technical solution which Ministry feels safest, under strict safety conditions, enabling the runway extension to proceed

“In today’s engineering world, there are no insurmountable challenges. We request that the Ministry engage highly technical consultants for the design of the culvert or any other technical solution, as well as expert project management consultants to oversee its construction, ensuring all safety and security protocols are strictly followed. This solution would allow the continued development of Surat, the 8th largest and fastest-growing city in India, and address the constraints currently preventing wide-body and long-distance aircraft from landing at Surat International Airport due to the insufficient runway length” stated WWWAS in a letter. 

The city-side runway extension is not possible as land is not available on the city side and Highway Road is also passing adjacent to Airport boundary at runway end on city side. Moreover, high-rise buildings which are already constructed on the city side can not be razed in such a high volume. Due to building height restrictions even the existing runway length has been restricted to 2290 mts. Efforts are underway to resolve that issue and WWWAS has made suggestions to concern stakeholders to remove the portion of building coming across the airport funnel and compensate builders and affected residents by giving them additional FSI for emicable solutions. However, resolving the Dumas-side restriction is equally crucial for the airport’s growth.

WWWAS has suggested a partnership in capital expenditure between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, with costs potentially recovered over time through a nominal user fee for passengers traveling to and from Surat International Airport.