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Srinagar airport to introduce 10 more flights from June 26
Srinagar International Airport is augmenting the daily flights by adding 2,000 more seats to cater to the increasing rush of passengers from the last week of June, officials said.
The Srinagar International Airport is augmenting the daily flights by adding 2,000 more seats to cater to the increasing rush of passengers from the last week of June, officials said.
The daily flights and number of passengers have been constantly increasing at the airport, more than doubling in the last five months, according to airport director Kuldeep Singh Rishi.
On March 28 this year, the airport celebrated its busiest day in history after 90 to and fro flights carrying 15,014 passengers were recorded which has now increased to 112 flights carrying 17,383 passengers on June 14.
Kuldeep Singh Rishi, while retweeting the daily flight details of Friday, informed that some 15,425 passengers travelled to and fro on Friday in 108 flights.
“Our traffic is steadily increasing. This is unprecedented growth in the number of flights and passengers. All flights are running to full capacity,” Rishi said in a tweet.
He said that they will be introducing 10 more flights from June 26.
“With the introduction of 10 more flights from June 26, we will have more than 2,000 additional seats available,” he said.
When a prospective passenger pointed towards the very high price of fare making it difficult for middle-class people to afford it, he said that they are in touch with the airlines.
“We are in touch with all airlines to keep a check on the air fares,” he said.
The Valley is recording a heavy rush of tourists and visitors from various parts of the country while there was also a rush owing to the Hajj flights and Amarnath pilgrims which will start by the end of this month.
The airport is buoyed by this year’s footfall and is planning to build another terminal to cater to the increased rush in the future.
In March, the airport director Singh said that their design capacity is less than 7,000 passengers per day and they have planned for increasing the capacity by constructing a new terminal building.
“We are expected to double our space by constructing another terminal,” he had said.
The airport is investing about ₹1,500 crore in constructing a new terminal building and six more aircraft parking stands.
The airport is also planning to install a new instrument landing system which will improve the visibility at the airport from 1,000 m to 500 m.
The Srinagar International Airport was also notified as the custodian for the import and export of goods directly from Srinagar to international destinations in March.
The Government of India acting through the commissioner of customs notified the Srinagar airport as custodian for the import and export of goods from abroad at the airport’s cargo terminal.
The airlines can now operate exclusive cargo flights and can also take cargo on their international passenger flights.
