Civilian flights to get longer operational hours in Chandigarh

Chandigarh: Following demands from private airlines the runway of the local airport of Indian Air Force (IAF) would soon be available round the clock for civilian flights.

At present civilian flights are allowed only for 12 hours from 8 AM as the runway of the IAF is used even though operations are carried from the Civil Terminal.

"Round the clock availability of Chandigarh airport of Indian Air Force for civil aircraft operations is under consideration," a defence release said here today.

Due to restricted operation hours for civilian flights, various airlines have not been able to commence international flights to be operated during late night hours.

The requirement of additional manpower to increase watch hours is being processed. Once manpower accretion materialises, increase in watch hours to have 24x7 operations will be initiated, it added.

However, purely as an interim measure, international flights can be facilitated as and when such scheduled flights materialise, the spokesman said.

As part of the modernisation of Air Field infrastructure, Chandigarh airport is being upgraded through installation of ILS Cat-II for operation of flights during low visibility conditions.

It will be done alongside runway resurfacing and is likely to be operational by January 2017.

Presently, around 15 flights to various destinations, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Srinagar, are operated by Air India and various private airlines.