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Chandigarh airport operation hours extended by 30 minutes from June 1
At present, the airport is closed every Sunday and functions between 7am and 5:30pm on the remaining six days of the week. The runway upgrade is undertaken at night and on Sundays.
Once the Chandigarh International Airport opens back on June 1, its operating time will be extended by half an hour, the Centre told the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) on Friday.
Also, the airport will be made functional for five hours — 1pm to 6pm — on Sundays as well, said assistant solicitor general Chetan Mittal in court.
At present, the airport is closed every Sunday and functions between 7am and 5:30pm on the remaining six days of the week. The runway upgrade is undertaken at night and on Sundays.
However, from May 12 to May 31, all air operations have been cancelled to facilitate the work. This is the second closure after the one from February 12 to 26 earlier this year.
The court was told that last two layers of the runway are to be laid during the 20-day closure. The work is behind schedule by four days due to bad weather in recent days, Mittal told court, adding that the operations are expected to resume on June 1.
If there is any further change, the HC will be apprised of it on the next date of hearing — May 25, he said.
The HC bench of justices AK Mittal and TS Dhindsa was hearing a petition on infrastructure related issues at the airport, filed in 2015. The bench directed the Centre to hold a meeting before the next hearing to decide as to when the night operations can be started at the airport.
On installation of CAT-IIIB ILS (instrument landing system) on the runway, Mittal told court that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will reimburse the cost to the Indian Air Force.
The CAT-IIIB work is to be undertaken by the same contractor who has been allotted the CAT-II work, he said.
“It will help in early completion of the facility,” said Mittal.
CAT-IIIB ILS helps an aircraft to land in zero visibility conditions while CAT-II allows operations when visibility come down to 300 metre.
