The Union civil aviation ministry has earmarked Rs 495 crore, Rs 323 cr and Rs 77 cr respectively for the modernisation of Srinagar, Leh and Jammu airports.
The work is to be accomplished by 2022. The ministry has setJuly 22, 2022 as the deadline for completion of development of integratedterminal building at Srinagar Airport, and September 21, 2022 is the deadlinefor completion of construction of new terminal building at Leh Airport.
The Srinagar Airport is facing space constraints andinadequate parking area for aircraft landings and take-offs. The airport isunder direct operational control of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which controlsits air traffic and landing strip and also the facilities of fire-fighting andcrash activities, apart from the airspace. The terminal building, where thepassengers check-in and check-out, and the apron area, where an aircraft isparked, are however controlled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The airport, surrounded by dozens of villages and fruitorchards, is situated at a distance of 10 km from LalChowk, the city centre ofSrinagar and is spread over more than 65 acres of land. The expansion of theairport has been planned after the Union tourism ministry recommended itsupgradation, stating that failure to upgrade its facilities would lead to “badpublicity of Kashmir tourism sector”.
The expansion plan also includes upgradation ofInstrumentation Landing Systems at the airport. Similarly, Leh Airport belongsto Indian Air Force (IAF), Ministry of Defence, and the AAI maintains a CivilEnclave for Civil Operations. The AAI has proposed to construct a new terminalbuilding to cater for 600 peak-hour passengers for which 11.8 acres of land hasbeen requisitioned from the IAF.