Ludhiana: New international airport is ready for take-off

Punjab: The government has said that the international airport being constructed in Ludhiana is finally ready and the final phase of the work is targeted to be completed by April 30. Deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain has pressed upon the Indian Air Force (IAF) to complete the pending 10 per cent work at the earliest and has started the process of getting certain statutory clearances from various departments, especially the Central government, before the end of the month. The development assumes significance as the new international airport being constructed at Halwara airbase has been given an airport code, which is mandatory before starting operations, and was named Halwara Airport by the Centre in January till no formal decision was taken to give any specific name to the facility. While reviewing the progress of the ongoing works at the air force station and the civil terminal, the DC directed the concerned officials to complete the pending works, finalise them and obtain the mandatory clearances without any delay to ensure that the airport is fully ready for flight by April 30. Jain, in a meeting with senior officials of the Indian Air Force and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) here, took stock of the progress of runway relaying, casting works and signage installation besides other pending issues. He asked the concerned officials of the PWD, central agencies and private companies carrying out the ongoing works to expedite the pending works. Stressing the need for effective coordination between the concerned departments and their officials besides private agencies, the DC directed them to immediately resolve any missed issue. Recently, the Centre had asked the state government to hand over the physical possession of the civil airport terminal in all respects to start operations. Along with this, the bidding process for operating airlines is also to be started soon, which will take a few months for commercial flights to start operating from here. Air India had already announced plans to start flights from Ludhiana once the airport becomes operational. Except for the overlaying of the runway, which is in the final stages of completion, the airport is ready for take-off, with the IAF and the state government completing and finalising almost all the pending works in their respective areas. The DC informed that, “Central Electricity Authority (CEA) clearance, fire NOC, felling of trees, main terminal building, signage on both arrival and departure side and in IAF area, lighting and cabling along with installation of CCR, cabling and lighting for new taxiway and apron area, markings on taxiway and apron, furniture for VIP room and terminal chairs for SHA area, testing and commissioning of CCTV and FIDS system, work on drainage system in operational area, installation of chain-link fencing with permanent perimeter wall, construction of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) area and erection of security watchtower are the main pending works.” He informed that it has been resolved that the pending issues and the next steps to make the airport operational should be completed by April 30. “It is informed that the ICAO code for Halwara IAF Station is “VIHX”. With regard to the IATA code, since the information primarily pertains to the IAF Station at Halwara, Ludhiana, the request has been forwarded to the Indian Air Force. We are awaiting its response and will inform the airlines as soon as we get the detailed information,” AAI chairman Vipin Kumar had recently informed Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, who has been lobbying hard for the early completion of the airport. Further, the AAI chairman had informed Arora that the operational date will be finalised once the terminal building is completed and officially handed over to the AAI by the state government. While the overlaying of Taxi-A, Taxi-D and New Link Taxi inside the IAF complex has been completed, the deadline for completing the ongoing overlaying of the runway from where flights will operate is April 30.