Small planes can cater to Shimla, Centre tells SC

R Sedhuraman

New Delhi, May 4

The Civil Aviation Ministry today informed the Supreme Court that a technical report on Shimla airport showed that only small planes could cater to the Himachal capital in view of the short runway there.

Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, Additional Solicitor General PS Patwalia said the technical report was made available only yesterday and as such more time was required to file an affidavit on the feasibility of resuming flights to Shimla.

Accepting the plea for more time, the Bench posted the next hearing for May 11. Earlier, the Centre had accepted the SC’s suggestion for clubbing Shimla with the Northeastern (NE) states and Jammu and Kashmir to force airlines to operate flights to the city.

Metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai figured in category one which had a route share of 50 per cent, while NE states, J and K, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands had a compulsory share of at least 10 per cent. The airlines would have to operate 40 per cent of their flights to other destinations.

Airlines preferred cities other than Shimla under the third category due to various reasons, including the short runway. On February 16, the SC had asked the government to ensure that every airline had flights to uneconomical sectors such as the Delhi-Shimla route, instead of opting only for profitable sectors.

Air India and Jet Airways have come to the SC challenging the December 7, 2014 directive of the Himachal Pradesh High Court for starting flights from the Jubbarhatti Airport, Shimla, on a trial basis. The HC had passed the order on a PIL plea for resumption of flights to Shimla which remained suspended since September 2012.