Srinagar: For people of Jammu and Kashmir, night flights remain a dream despite Defence Ministry giving its nod for extending flight time till 10 PM as infrastructure issues are yet to be solved by Indian Air Force and Civil Aviation Ministry.
Defence Ministry gave its clearance and according to a letter written by Defence Minister A K Antony "Air HQ (headquarters) has already issued instructions to extend watch hours for civil flights at Srinagar till 2200 hours on daily basis". This comes in the wake of demands made by the state government and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh but the move did not enthuse Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who said that while night flights to Kashmir has been a long standing demand but "what is required is a proper infrastructure for allowing civilian air planes to land".
"It has been a long standing demand for night flight from Srinagar. This having been said the constraint was not so much about increasing watch hours but had to do more with infrastructure for civil flights to operate from and to Srinagar Airport.
"The runway light and the approach light will have to be made compatible with the civilian requirements and until that happens, dream of night flights will remain a dream," Omar told PTI here. He said the state government hoped that the Airport authorities and the Defence Ministry will work together to provide necessary infrastructure both at the Srinagar Airport and the designated alternative airport which is also a civilian requirement.
Ramesh, who was accompanying the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during his June 15 visit, had said in his letter to Antony that people wanted night landing and take-off facilities at Srinagar International Airport.
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