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Srinagar airport to turn international on Feb 14

January 23, 2009 22:32 IST
The Srinagar airport will start international operations from February 14 this year.

The first International flight will take off for the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, a statement, issued by the Union Water Resources Minister Saif-ud-Din Soz, said.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has assured Soz that all measures shall be put in place on time to ensure smooth operations on the inaugural day.

Soz, who himself hails from Kashmir, has been pressing for the early installation of the instrument landing system so that incoming and outgoing flights are not disrupted by bad weather and that the airport remains operational round-the-clock.

The new international airport complex, built at a cost of 60 crore, is undergoing finishing touches.

The foundation stone of the prestigious project, which shall satisfy a long-standing demand of the Valley, was laid by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in April 2003.

Mukhtar Ahmad In Srinagar