Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday directed all airport operators to carry out compulsory periodic inspection of runway surface.
The directive also comes against the backdrop of multiple incidents in recent months wherein planes overshot runways and many of them happened in wet conditions during rainfall.
A senior official told PTI that airport operators have to mandatorily conduct "periodic friction test and rubber removal" to ensure that runways are in proper condition.
With the latest directive, major airports including those at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru would have to carry out every week friction measurement for runways.
Friction test assesses the resistance of a runway, a key factor for effective braking of an aircraft at the time of landing.
The skid-resistance of runway pavement deteriorates due to a number of factors, the two pre-dominant ones being mechanical wear and polishing action from aircraft tyres rolling or braking on the pavement, and the accumulation of contaminants, chiefly rubber, on the pavement surface, as per a DGCA circular.
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The effect of these factors is directly dependent upon the volume and type of aircraft traffic.
As per the DGCA, airports having more than 210 aircraft movements per day should conduct the friction measurement every week. It would be once in two weeks for aerodromes with 151-210 daily aircraft movements and once in a month for airports where the flight movements are 91-150.
Major airports, including at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, have more than 210 aircraft movements every day.
The frequency of friction measurement would be every three months for aerodromes having 31-90 daily aircraft movements and every six months for those with 16-30 plane movements.
Further, it would be once a year for airports having aircraft movements of less than 15 every day.
A take-off or a landing is considered as one plane movement.
The frequency of friction measurement would also be depend on the annual aircraft weight for runway, which is calculated in million kilogram.
"Rubber deposits in the touch-down zone of the runway are one of the primary causes of reduction of friction values when runways are wet," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in the circular.
The aerodrome operators should also keep a watch over rubber deposits and take necessary actions for their removal, whenever values are nearing minimum friction values, it added.
The regulator noted that regular friction measurement enables an aerodrome operator to build up an overview of the runway condition over a period of time to identify any deterioration.
"Aerodrome operators should keep records of all runway surface friction measurements.
"The friction measurements should be incorporated into the aerodrome maintenance plan and used to monitor the overall health and condition of the runway surface," the circular said.