Srinagar: With an increase in tourist arrivals to Kashmir, Srinagar Airport has witnessed a record 100 plus flight arrivals and departures on Monday.
As per Director, Airports Authority of India ( AAI) Srinagar, Kuldeep Singh the aerodrome witnessed 51 flight arrivals and similar number of departures on Monday with a total passenger footfall of 15,199.
It may be mentioned that amid decrease in Covid-19 cases, flight arrivals since February this year had seen an increase. At one point in time daily flight arrivals had dropped to as low as 14 last year owing to COVID-19.
During recent visit of Civil Aviation Minister, he had pitched for upgrade of infrastructure facilities at the airport that is of the preferred tourist destinations in the country. Requirement for enhancement was felt because the airport has a smaller parking area for aircraft landings and take-offs. AAI two years back said they are going to set in motion the upgradation of the airport.
The expansion of the airport was planned after the Union Tourism ministry recommended its upgradation, stating that failure to upgrade its facilities would lead to “bad publicity of Kashmir tourism sector”. Under the expansion plan, the floor area of the airport was supposed to be doubled to around 33,000 sq m from the existing 16,700 sq m. To accommodate more flights, the airport would have also two new aircraft stands.
Srinagar Airport has seen an increase of more than 4 lakh passengers in last one year but outdated Instrumentation Landing System ( ILS) is one of the main reasons for delay of flights due to inclement weather.
The Instrumentation Landing System is a ground-based instrumentation system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching the runway to enable its safe landing during reduced visibility conditions, common in Kashmir during winters. However, as per AAI officials the upgraded ILS will be up and running by end of this year.
The annual footfalls of passengers at Srinagar is expected to increase from 3 million passengers to 6 million passengers per annum. The flights are expected to increased upto 60- 65 flights in next few years. By increasing more space to the airport and improving landing facilities, air travel is expected to become hassle free, official said.