JK Govt, AAI at loggerheads with IAF

Srinagar: The proposed closure of Srinagar International Airport for 15 days on account of runway repairs has brought the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Airports Authority of India at loggerheads with the Indian Air Force.
According to officials, the Air Force, manning the runway of the Srinagar airport, was contemplating airport closure for 15 days during the peak tourist season and diversion of all the commercial flights to and from Srinagar to the Awantipora Air Force Base -30 kms from Srinagar. The move, however, has evoked sharp reaction from the state government and the Srinagar-based AAI authorities.
Pertinently, Srinagar International Airport, though a civilian airport, is under the operational control of the Indian Air Force, while all other civilian airports throughout the country are manned by AAI.
“The state government is against the closure of the airport. We have told them to do the necessary work without closing the airport. We feel that this can be done. The AAI has done it at a number of places. They have repaired and renovated runways without closing the airports. We have requested the Air Force not to make the runway unavailable for so many days,” said a senior official from the state's Civil Aviation Department, asserting that Awantipora was no alternative. “There is no infrastructure there. Everybody, including the private airlines, will find it difficult to shift the computer systems and other paraphernalia to Awantipora. And doing this in this age of e-ticketing is extremely difficult,” he told Greater Kashmir.
“We have said if worse comes to worst, you can do the work in September after the Amarnath Yatra. We are also seeking reduction in the number of working days. They can do the work overtime by deploying more machinery,” the official said.
He said the AAI and airlines have strongly opposed the closure move.
The Srinagar-based Air Force authorities, however, argue the delay in runway repair was not feasible. “We are doing it in the interest of public. The top layer on the runway has to be laid. If we delay it, then there will be engineering and temperature problems, which can affect the work later. It can fall on the next year then. So we have clarified our reservations to the state government,” said the Srinagar-based Air Officer Commanding of the Indian Air Force.
30/04/10 Faheem Aslam/Greater Kashmir

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Categories: Airports Apr 2010