GoAir completes the trial, Indigo to hold trial today: Dir Airport
The first night flight was operated from Srinagar Airport tonight by Go Air to New Delhi at 1915 hrs. Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce, Ranjan Prakash Thakur who was present on the occasion greeted the crew of the flight and other ground personnel.
Speaking on the occasion, the Principal Secretary said that the start of the night operations from Srinagar is the dawn of a new era as it will improve air connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir. He added that this significant development will boost the tourism sector of J&K as it will increase the tourist footfall in the region.
The Principal Secretary further said that after this development, the long pending demand of tour and travel operators has been fulfilled and this will substantially help in economic growth of UT as the tourism sector forms the core of economy here.With start of night operations of flights, the summer schedule will see a substantial increase in flights to the UT of J&K.
Director Srinagar International Airport, Santosh Dhoke, said safety teams of GoAir and Indigo arrived in Srinagar to check night flight operations arrangements at the airport.”GoAir conducted its trial test before starting their night flight operations from Srinagar. Indigo would do the trial on Saturday,” he said.
He said the safety team from the airlines came here to check the safety arrangements for aircrafts during night hours. The director said the airlines have sent their request to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its final approval.
“We are expecting DGCA slot approval for night flight operations taking in view security and technicalities. It would be cleared on Monday or Tuesday,” Dhoke said.He said once the approval is given, they would start night flight operations from 28 March which, he said, would boost the tourism sector.
Dhoke said the plan for night flights was in the pipeline after he joined the post in 2019. “We have also removed a security layer at the airport which was causing inconvenience to the passengers including tourists,” he said.
In 2018, a commercial aircraft during late evening hours was held following which the Airport was declared technically suitable for starting night flights.
