Bhuntar airport runway awaits extension

High airfares

— At present an ATR-72 aircraft by Alliance Air was being operated to Kullu.

— The aircraft is allowed to ferry only around 20 passengers while departing due to load stipulation because of the short runway.

— The airline was charging above Rs 22,000 from Kullu to Delhi and Rs 20,000 from Kullu to Chandigarh to meet the expenses.

— Travel agents say that extension of the runway will encourage other airlines to start operations on this sector, thereby reducing the airfares

Abhinav Vashisht

KULLU, AUGUST 9

The matter of extension of the runway of Kullu-Manali Airport at Bhuntar has been hanging fire since long. Many proposals and surveys had been conducted but all of these have remained only on paper and nothing concrete has emerged.

A team of senior officials of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had carried out a survey to explore the possibility of extension of the runway on March 6. There is a proposal to increase the length of the runway from 1,052 metres to 1,712 metres by diverting the Beas river.

At present an ATR-72 aircraft by Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of national carrier Air India, having 70 seats was being operated to Kullu. The aircraft is allowed to ferry only around 20 passengers while departing from Kullu due to load stipulation because of the short runway. The airline was generally charging above Rs 22,000 from Kullu to Delhi and over Rs 20,000 from Kullu to Chandigarh to meet the expenses.

Travel agents say that extension of the runway was a must so that medium size aircraft are able to operate and ferry more passengers. They said this will encourage other airlines to start operations on this sector, thereby reducing the airfares, which in turn will promote tourism and boost the economy of the region.

They added that Alliance Air was charging exorbitant fares because of monopoly and the airfares were out of reach of a common man.

Kullu-Manali Airport Director Neeraj Kumar Srivastava said that various facts and possibilities to extend the runway had been deliberated upon and a plan has been sent to the higher authorities. He said that the land for the extension of the runway will have to be procured by the state government as Airports Authority of India (AAI) does not bear land acquisition costs.

Bhupender Thakur, patron, Kullu Travel Agents Association, said that a team of experts of IIT Roorkee had earlier evaluated the feasibility of extension of the runway of Bhuntar airport and the state government had agreed to provide the required land.

He added that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took personal interest in the improvement of the Bhuntar airport. Vajpayee had a personal abode in Prini village of this district. Vajpayee had also sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the extension project in 2002, but the proposal failed to materialize as after the NDA government was ousted, the officials concerned stated that the extension was not practically feasible due to high costs involved.

Caption: An aerial view of the runway of the Kullu-Manali airport.