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Defence secretary advises IAF to avoid closure of Jammu airport for 15 days
He asked the IAF to work out a solution with the AAI and stated that the airport closure plan was not desirable.
Defence secretary Ajay Kumar on Thursday advised the Indian Air Force (IAF) to work in tandem with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and find a way out to avoid closure of Jammu Airport for civilian traffic for 15 days next month, officials privy to the meeting said.
Kumar chaired a meeting in Delhi with the IAF, the AAI and the MES. Deputy secretary of the civil aviation ministry was also present at the meeting.
The IAF recently wrote a letter to the AAI proposing the closure of Jammu Airport for 15 days from March 6 to March 20 for resurfacing runway and undertaking other allied works.
“Defence secretary, who chaired the meeting, asked the IAF to work out a solution with the AAI on the grounds stating that closure of the Jammu Airport for civilian traffic for 15 straight days was not desirable,” they said.
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He said that doing so will cause grave inconvenience to the administration and people alike and therefore the IAF should find a way out in tandem with the AAI, they added.
Officials informed that for now, the proposed closure of the airport for 15 straight days may not take place from March 6. Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has also taken up the matter with defence minister Rajnath Singh.
Nearly two dozen flights operate to and from the Jammu airport.
On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam had also written to the civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola requesting the resurfacing of the runway to be done in a phased manner to avoid disruption of civilian traffic. Subrahmanyam said in his letter that complete closure of the airport for 15 days would create huge administrative issues for Jammu and Kashmir.
Following the IAF’s letter, private airliners have stopped taking bookings for the 15 day period. The runway work is scheduled to begin on March 5 and end on March 20.
Officials said Air Force Station, Jammu wants a complete closure of the runway for 15 days towards laying of final two top DAC-II layers on the runway surface from March 6 to 20 which has been approved by the Air Headquarters.
