Only 19-seater aeroplane can fly to Kargil: Minister

New Delhi, August 1
The government is making all efforts to start civilian flight services to Kargil and only 19-seater aircraft can be operated to the airport there, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Thursday.
He was responding to Mohd Haneefa, the MP from Ladakh, who had asked about civilian flights getting started from Kargil, that is about six hours road ride away from either the airport at Leh or at Srinagar.
The Minister told the Lok Sabha that considering the runway at the existing Kargil airport, terrain difficulties as well as landing and take off protocols, only 19-seater aircraft can be operated.
In this regard, efforts are going on with airlines to look at starting civilian flights to Kargil under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, he added. An amount of Rs 9.2 crore has been sanctioned for the airport and some electrical works have also been done.
“We are making all efforts to start civilian flights to Kargil... if some airlines say they are ready to provide connectivity from Kargil to Srinagar or Jammu, then we are ready to do the remaining work and provide for the civilian services,” the Minister said during the Question Hour.
He also said efforts will be made to start services at the earliest. A multi-disciplinary team comprising officials of the AAI, the Indian Air Force and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had visited sites at Wakha Kargil, Turtuk, Diskit, Nyoma and Padum/Zanskar in 2021 for examining the feasibility of these sites for construction of airports in the UT of Ladakh. “However, none of the sites were found suitable for airport construction,” Naidu said. — TNS (With inputs from agency)