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Flights from Jammu to be regulated from March 10 to April 19 for runway work
The Jammu airport will be for civilian flight from 6 am to 1 pm with the last flight departure at 12.50 pm from March 10 to April 19.
Flights from Jammu airport will now be regulated from March 10 to April 19 to enable the Indian Air Force (IAF) to carry out resurfacing and other allied works after the Centre shot down its proposal for a complete closure of the strategic airport from March 6 to 20, an official familiar with the development said Saturday.
“Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar in a meeting on February 19 had stated that complete closure of the airport will cause not only inconvenience to the common public but also a disruption in the efforts towards the sustained connectivity of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. Hence, all available options need to be explored,” said the official who was privy to the meeting at Delhi.
Accordingly, it has been decided now that the Jammu Airport will be made available for operations of civilian flights from 6 am to 1 pm with the last flight departure at 12.50 pm from March 10 to April 19, he said.
The official said that the IAF’s proposed complete closure of the airport from March 6 to March 20 has been withdrawn.
On Thursday, the defence secretary advised IAF to work in tandem with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and find a way out to avoid closure of Jammu Airport for civilian traffic for 15 days next month.
Jammu airport is the only airport that provides air connectivity to the region with rest of the country. Nearly two dozen flights operate to and from the Jammu airport daily.
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha had also taken up the matter with defence minister Rajnath Singh.
On Wednesday Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam had also written to the civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola requesting that resurfacing of the runway should 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 proposal, private airliners had stopped booking for the 15 day period from March 6 to 20.
