Jaipur: Jaipur Airport has made some important changes to its runway, including its identification, due to a partial change in the angle of the runway caused by the Earth’s magnetic bearing. The runway, which was previously identified as 09-27, will now be known as 08-26, reflecting its new geographical orientation.
The Earth’s magnetic bearing, or magnetic north, is the direction that a compass needle points to. However, this direction is not fixed and changes over time due to the movement of the molten iron in the Earth’s core. This phenomenon is called geomagnetic secular variation, and it affects the alignment of runways at airports around the world.
According to a senior official of Jaipur Airport, the number of the runway indicates its angle in relation to the magnetic north. For example, if the runway number is 09-27, it means that the runway is aligned at 90 degrees and 270 degrees from the magnetic north. Similarly, the runway number 08-26 means that the runway is aligned at 80 degrees and 260 degrees from the magnetic north.
The official said that the changes were made as per the standards of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulatory body for civil aviation in India. He added that the new runway identification will help the pilots to get precise accuracy in landing and takeoff, as they rely on the magnetic compass and the instrument landing system (ILS) to navigate the aircraft.
The ILS is a system that provides horizontal and vertical guidance to the pilots, using radio signals transmitted by the localizer and the glide path, which are devices installed at the runway. The localizer indicates the direction of the runway, while the glide path indicates the angle of descent. The ILS helps the pilots to land safely, especially in low-visibility conditions.
The runway of Jaipur Airport is currently 3407 meters, or about 11178 feet, long. It can accommodate large aircraft, such as the Boeing 777, which belongs to the Category E of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) classification. The ICAO classifies the aircraft based on their wingspan and outer main gear wheel span, which determine the required runway width and separation distance.
The new runway at Jaipur Airport was inaugurated on Tuesday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Chief Airport Officer Vishnu Mohan Jha, Officer-in-charge of Airport Authority Charan Singh, CISF Commandant Narpat Singh, and many other officials. The airport also issued an Air Side Safety Manual, which sets the safety standards for the employees working at the air side, which is the area where the aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded, and refueled.
