Panaji:
Goa airport is being closed for two hours every evening to conduct a topographical survey, mandatory for undertaking extensive repair of runway, a senior official said on Monday.
The Indian Navy, which manages the airport that is a part of its INS Hansa naval base, on Saturday said that the runway is planned to undergo complete resurfacing.
"A precise topographical survey is mandatory prior to undertaking such major repairs," a Naval spokesman said.
The airport is being closed between 5 to 7pm every day for traffic.
"Dabolim airport caters to extensive civil and military air traffic throughout the year. To obviate frequent closure of runway for temporary repairs or foreign object damage to any aircraft, a complete resurfacing of runway is planned in near future," he said.
The topographical survey began from July 3 and will continue till July 23.
The closure of the runway at these times has been planned so that there is minimum rescheduling or cancellation of civil flights, he said.
Navy officials had approached Airport Authority of India ( AAI) and flight operators well in advance for rescheduling of flights and to inform the passengers in time about the revised timings, he added.
