DC asks IAF to complete pending work on international airport soon
As the work on the upcoming international airport in Ludhiana is still going on, the Deputy Commissioner, Jitendra Jorwal, has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) to complete the pending work at the earliest.
The development assumes significance as the new international airport coming up at Halwara air base had been granted the airport code, which is mandatory before launching the operations. It has been named Halwara airport by the Centre last month till the time any formal decision to give any specific name to the facility is taken.
At a meeting with the senior officials of the IAF and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) here, the DC reviewed the ongoing works at the Air Force Station and the civil terminal.
Taking stock of the progress of the runaway relaying, casting works, signages, besides other pending issues, Jorwal urged the PWD officials and private companies undertaking the ongoing work to expedite the completion of the pending tasks. He emphasised the need for effective coordination between the departments concerned and their officials, instructing them to address important issues promptly.
The Deputy Commissioner asked the officials to devise a detailed solid waste management plan to remove all debris and waste around the airport area within the next few days as garbage and waste could attract birds, which could disturb the flight operations.
Recently, the Centre had asked the Punjab Government to hand over the physical possession of the civil airport terminal complete in all respects to launch the operations.
With this, the bidding process for the operations of the airlines was also set to be launched shortly, which will take a couple of months before the commercial flights begin operations from here.
Air India has already announced plans to launch flights from Ludhiana once the airport becomes operational. Except the overlaying of runway, which is also progressing fast, the airport is ready for operations with the IAF and the state government completing almost all pending works inside their respective areas of operations.
“The ICAO code for IAF station Halwara is “VIHX”. Regarding the IATA code, as the information pertains mainly to IAF station, Halwara, Ludhiana, the request has been forwarded to the IAF. We are awaiting their response and will inform the airlines as soon as the details are received,” AAI Chairman Vipin Kumar had recently said. He further said that the operational date would be finalised once the terminal building was completed and officially handed over to the AAI by the Punjab Government.
While the overlaying of Taxi-A, Taxi-D and New Link Taxi inside the IAF premises is almost complete, March 31 is the deadline for completing the ongoing overlaying of the runway from where the flights will operate. This Rs 50-crore much-awaited and much-delayed big ticket project took over three years and missed at least 14 deadlines to see the light of the day.
Ludhiana, which is Punjab’s industrial and business capital with a population of almost 4 million, is presently serviced by a small airport at Sahnewal. Located at the geographical centre of Punjab, the new international airport will serve the entire state as well as neighbouring areas.
