City’s wait for night flights get longer

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 20

The night flights from the Srinagar International Airport have been delayed as the airport authorities have not yet confirmed the date to formally begin the operations.

After the successful test flight during night hours on August 10, the authorities in Srinagar were looking for a date anytime after August 15 to start the night operations. However, the decision has not been taken yet by the higher authorities nor any date has been conveyed to officials here.

“The night flight operations have been delayed as we are still waiting for an official announcement in this regard,” Director, Srinagar International Airport, Akash Deep told The Tribune. The official said all arrangements and logistics were in place to handle night flights by the airlines, adding that apart from GoAir, Indigo and Air India had also opted for the night slots.

He did not specify the reasons behind the delay in starting the night flights from Srinagar but the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the official mourning period are believed to be some of the primary reasons behind the delay.

The Srinagar airport was “technically” cleared for night operations after first night landing and taking off of a commercial aircraft was undertaken at the airport on August 10. The test flight was carried out to assess the feasibility and allied issues pertaining to landing of the aircraft during night.