New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday inaugurated dual elevated Eastern Cross Taxiways and the fourth runway at the Delhi airport.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), which is also the country's largest airport, handles more than 1,500 aircraft movements every day.

The Eastern Cross Taxiways (ECT), which is 2.1 kilometres long, will reduce the time spent on the tarmac by passengers after landing and before take-off of flights.

With the ECT, the airport will also be the only one in the country to have an elevated taxiway with roads passing below it.

The ECT will connect the northern and southern airfields on the eastern side of the airport and will reduce the taxiing distance for an aircraft by seven kilometres. It can handle wide-body aircraft, including A-380 and B-777 and B-747.

Now, the airport will have four runways -- RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 10/28 and RW 11L/29R.

IGIA is operated by the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a consortium led by GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd.

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