Night-landing facility at Bagdogra soon

Kolkata: Evening flights can soon start at Bagdogra. The defence ministry has given its nod to extend civilian operations at the airport, a strategic forward base of the Indian Air Force and a gateway to the tourist hotspots of Darjeeling and Gangtok.
It has been a long standing demand of the state government as well as the travel and tourism industry to allow for more flexibility in flight operations at Bagdogra. Right now, civilian flights can operate only between 10 am and 3 pm.
Buoyed by the defence ministry nod, the state government quickly announced its decision to hand over 14.5 acres to the civil aviation ministry for developing infrastructure for night landing. The state had given 8.5 acres earlier for expansion of the terminal. "We had given a portion of land that the civil aviation ministry had sought to upgrade and expand the airport. The remaining land will be handed over soon," said transport secretary Sumantra Chaudhuri. He will accompany transport minister Ranjit Kundu to oversee the acquisition at Bagdogra on January 18.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said the land would be used to construct the approach landing facility for operations after sunset.
16/01/10 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010