Avoid 15-day closure of Jammu airport: Defence secy to IAF

IAF HAD RECENTLY WRITTEN TO AAI PROPOSING THE CLOSURE OF AIRPORT FROM MARCH 6 TO 20 FOR RESURFACING THE RUNWAY AND UNDERTAKING OTHER ALLIED WORKS

JAMMU: Defence secretary Ajay Kumar on Thursday advised the Indian Air Force (IAF) to work in tandem with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and find a way out to avoid the temporary closure of Jammu airport for civilian traffic next month, officials said.

Kumar on Thursday chaired a meeting in Delhi with IAF, AAI, and Military Engineer Services (MES). Deputy secretary of the civil aviation ministry was also present at the meeting.

IAF recently wrote a letter to the AAI proposing closure of the Jammu airport for 15 days from March 6 to March 20 for resurfacing the runway and undertaking other allied works.

“The defence secretary, who chaired the meeting, asked IAF to work out a solution with AAI on the ground that closure of the Jammu Airport for civilian traffic for 15 days straight was not desirable,” they said.

He said that doing so will cause grave inconvenience to the administration and people alike and therefore IAF should find a way out in tandem with the AAI, they added.

Officials informed that for now the proposed closure of the airport for 15 days may not take place from March 6.

It may be stated here that J&K Lt governor Manoj Sinha has also taken up the matter with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh.

Nearly two dozen flights operate to and from the Jammu airport.

On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam had also written to civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola requesting that resurfacing of the runway be done in a phased manner to avoid disruption of civilian traffic.

He said in his letter that complete closure of the airport for 15 days would create huge administrative issues for Jammu and Kashmir. “In the eventuality of the closure for 15 days, air traffic would have to be diverted to the nearest civil airport in Punjab, which would result in various logistical issues,” he had said in his letter.

Following the IAF’S letter, private airliners have stopped bookings for the 15-day period. The runway work is scheduled to begin on March 5 and end on March 20. Officials said Air Force Station, Jammu, wants complete closure of the runway for 15 days for laying of final two top DAC-II layers on the runway surface from March 6 to 20, which has been approved by the air force headquarters.