Jammu: With an aim to cater the rush of visitors and boost the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has nodded for the expansion and new state-of-art facilities loaded infrastructure at Jammu Airport, which will be completed by 2026.
“The rush of visitors in Jammu is swelling day by day and expansion of Jammu Airport was much needed,” official sources in Airports Authority of India (AAI) told UNI.
They said that the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has cleared decks for expansion of Jammu Airport and the new building laced with modern facilities will be constructed on 40,000 square meters of land near Belicharana area.
The existing airport is on 14,500 square meters area, they said, adding, “Ministry is modernizing its existing airports to build a strong, sustainable and future-ready aviation infrastructure and in this series of expansion, the AAI has nodded for a new Jammu airport complex.”
“At present, seven aircrafts can be parked at a time but with expansion of the airport in the first phase, 13 will be parked in one go and the facility will be increased in the second phase,” sources added.
They said that the modernised airport will be able to handle a rush of passengers and the new building of the terminal will come up under five star rating.
The building will have 36 check-in counters, six aerobridges, aprons, 16 self check-in kiosks, 11 security check lanes and an apron for parking 13 code C-aircraft.
“Presently, 30 to 35 flights (to and fro) are operating on daily basis at Jammu airport and the operation will be enhanced with new terminals,” they said and added, “we are well equipped to handle the night operations but due to shortage of aircrafts with the airlines, the exercise is lingering on but more crafts will be added as several airlines are showing interest in night operations depending upon the demand.”
“Jammu Airport has all the facilities at present for night flight operations and the delayed flights are operating during night hours,” they added.
“The new state-of-art infrastructure will be ready by 2026 ending,” they added.
“The upcoming new terminal building is being developed in the Belicharana area, which will be nearly three times larger than the existing,” S K Garg, Director, Jammu Airport Station told UNI.
He said that the existing airport will not be merged with the upcoming civil airport, adding, “the upcoming Civil Airport will have all facilities on the pattern of Mumbai and Delhi airports with the departure gates on the first floor of the airport”.
“The industrial and tourism sectors will also get a boost with new facilities while cargo carrier aircraft will also operate to facilitate the import and export of goods,” official sources said.
UNI
