Sunday, July 03, 2016

Haryana flies, mostly on paper

Haryana has no domestic or international airport. The three flying institutes in Hisar, Karnal and Pinjore are more of clubs. These largely unguarded institutes have no idea where the pilots that they churn out for a Rs 22-lakh fee for a four-year course would eventually be absorbed. The management in Karnal vaguely remembers that astronaut Kalpana Chawla was a regular visitor to the institute.
The state government has been doing its paper work for years. Haryana Civil Aviation Minister Ram Bilas Sharma says Rs. 50 crore has been marked by the finance department for the year 2016-17 for the Hisar aerodrome. “The draft feasibility report submitted by the consultant is being examined,” he said.
There are some good reasons why Haryana in its golden jubilee year should have, not one but two airports. First is the new aviation policy. It says airlines will charge only Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights for operating on “un-served routes.” Since Karnal and Hisar are such areas, it can be a win-win situation both for the airlines and travellers. Karnal is hardly 30km from the international pilgrimage centre Kurukshetra, and given the mess in the local transport, the airport can change the face of the state’s pilgrimage tourism. And Hisar, which has a cantonment and is a stone’s throw from the upcoming 2,800 MW nuclear power unit in Fatehabad, can have strategic and commercial advantage since the town is a major industrial hub.
03/07/16 Tribune
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