Patiala to get new wings

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 10

Aviation enthusiasts in the city are in for good times as the Punjab Government has decided to spruce up facilities at the Patiala Flying Club and get two new aircraft for trainee pilots. Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered a review of the existing fee structure of flying training institutes to make it affordable and cost-effective to attract more young aspirants for pilot training.

The Chief Minister today held a meeting with senior officials and directed them to further intensify their efforts to enhance the quality of training at the Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) to put these on a par with international flying clubs. Patiala has been a hub of flying for the past many decades with a majority of commercial pilots engaged by major airlines in India and even abroad had their initial training from the Patiala Flying Club.

With flying operations witnessing a major change over the years, the officials need to revamp the two operational FTOs at Patiala and Amritsar, and raise their bar with the adoption of latest technology and modern flying practices.

Army officials have been using the nearby chunk of vacant land for their chopper sorties from the past some years and all their dignitaries land at the Patiala Aviation Club (PAC) airstrip. Recently, Rahul Gandhi and even Prince Charles, during their Patiala visit, had used the PAC strip for landing.

The Patiala Aviation Club reopened for flying in 2006, after a gap of three years, following some hiccups. The club was the only one in Punjab and Chandigarh to have a Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) license for instructing students, before other clubs opened in Ludhiana and Amritsar.

Acceding to the request of the officials for the upgrade of flying infrastructure across the state, Capt Amarinder asked the Punjab Technical University to fund Rs 10 crore for this purpose, besides authorising the purchase of two new modern aircraft and runaway lighting for the Civil Aerodrome, Patiala.

The Chief Minister also asked the Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, to take up the issue of swapping of a chunk of land between the Irrigation Department and defence to ensure that the land is contiguous for the expansion of the existing runaway at the Civil Aerodrome, Patiala. “We will be intensifying vigil at the Aerodrome by deploying more police personnel, besides putting barbed wire across its entire boundary to prevent the entry of stray cattle, which posed a major threat to the overall security of the aircraft and flying staff,” said officials.