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| Vohra for meeting increased aviation demands | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, DECEMBER16- Reviewing the expansion of Srinagar International Airport, Governor, Mr N N Vohra, today said that all requisite equipment will have to be put in place on immediate basis to cater to the rapidly increasing aviation demands at the Airport.
Vohra said that he will take up with the Union Ministries of Civil Aviation and Defence the matter regarding the immediate establishment of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and installation of the approach lights, high density and fog lights at the Airport.
Reviewing the pace of progress on the expansion project, at a high level meeting here this afternoon, the Governor said that the Srinagar International Airport is poised to emerge as one of the attractive destinations around the world in view of abundant tourism potential in the Jammu and Kashmir State. He stressed the need for designing the infrastructure and other required logistics, keeping in view the emerging needs for handling the increasing passenger traffic and the cargo.
The need for immediate installation of the ILS is being felt to enhance the visibility range in view of the geographical and topographical location of the Airport. The Srinagar Airport requires 2.2 kilometer visibility for operation of all scheduled flights, as in the wake of poor visibility; most of the flights get cancelled. The Governor noted with concern that during the past over one month, 75 to 80 flights, including Haj flights, got cancelled due to poor visibility conditions.
The Srinagar International Airport ranks at number 15 among the 46 top domestic airports of the country with a runway of 12000 feet. The airport is being developed and expanded as an international airport.
The Airport Authority of India is enhancing the capacity of existing terminal building for handling 450 International passengers and 500 domestic passengers during peak hours.
In the upcoming two storied terminal complex, all modern amenities like aerobridges, central heating system, central air-conditioning, Inline X Ray, Baggage Inspection System along with conveyor belts for departure and Inclined Arrival Baggage conveyor Systems, escalators, lifts, modern Public Address System, Flight Information System, CCTV etc are being provided.
The main feature of the new Airport is that the terminal area has been expanded on 17,900 square meters against the earlier 6,190 square meters. It will have an added Visitors Lounge spread over 1,800 square meters, a facility which was not available at all in the old terminal.
The Director, Srinagar International Airport, Mr Rakesh Kalra, said that the Airport has handled 7.88 lakh passengers during 2007-08 against 2.10 lakh passengers in 1997-98. Similarly, the number of aircraft movements has registered a manifold increase – 7988 in
2007-08 against just 242 in 1997-98. "The expansion of the Airport has also been necessitated to cater to the increased number of the Air Lines operating at the Srinagar Airport", he said, adding that the Airport has a vast traffic and cargo potential, which necessitated its up-gradation.
The Director informed the Governor that the direct Haj flights from Jeddah to Srinagar had commenced in 2002.
Earlier, the Governor, accompanied by senior Civil, Police, Indian Air Force, Central Police, Bureau of Aviation Security and the Airport Authority of India officers, visited the terminal complex and took stock of the pace of work on the up-gradation project.
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