Kushinagar airport likely to be functional by next month
GORAKHPUR : The muchawaited airport in eastern UP’s Kushinagar district is likely to be operational by next month, said Kushinagar airport officials. On Thursday, the Centre allocated ₹255 crore to complete the pending construction work of the airport. On the occasion, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also unveiled the Centre’s 100-day plan to give fillip to the civil aviation sector and start flights from five airports of the country, including Kushinagar airport.
GORAKHPUR : The muchawaited airport in eastern UP’s Kushinagar district is likely to be operational by next month, said Kushinagar airport officials. On Thursday, the Centre allocated ₹255 crore to complete the pending construction work of the airport.
On the occasion, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also unveiled the Centre’s 100-day plan to give fillip to the civil aviation sector and start flights from five airports of the country, including Kushinagar airport.
The ministry had also worked out a plan to start 50 new air routes out of which flights would start on 30 by October, he said while talking to reporters in the national capital.
As of now, major portion of work on airport, including construction of runway, terminal building, power substation and optical fibre, has been completed along with the recruitment of technical and administrative staff needed for smooth functioning of the airport.
The only work left is ILS (instrument landing system) and setting up of DVRO (doppler very high frequency omni range).
Both ILS and DVRO techniques will help in safe landing and take-off of planes even during poor visibility.
For setting up ILS, the work of acquiring 32-acre land is under way. Confirming it, Kushinagar international airport director AK Dwivedi said, “We had sent the demand for setting up ILS and other infrastructure related resources. Now, when the budget has been released, the pending work will be completed soon.”
The airport is spread in around 600-acre land. In June last year, Kushinagar airport got the international status and in February this year the airport got all necessary clearances from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to be recognised as an international airport.