A Joint Venture Agreement for development of Greenfield airport at Nagchala in district Mandi was signed in the presence of Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia at New Delhi on Monday. The agreement will pave the way for development of the airport in Mandi, a dream project of the Chief Minister.

On this occasion, Thakur said that it will not only improve air connectivity to the state but will also boost tourism besides generating employment opportunities for local youth. The airport will also enable wide bodied aircraft which also includes landing of international flights.  He said that the Greenfield Airport will be developed with a proposed runway of 3150 meters for which land 2840 Bighas has been identified. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has also conducted the Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) survey and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) survey.

Thakur said that according to OLS and LIDAR survey reports, the airport at Mandi is feasible and suitable for round the year operations along with night landing and operation of AB-320 type of aircraft.  He also requested for landing of ATR 42-600 in Shimla airport and for flight operations to Shimla -Kullu - Dharamshala under UDAN II as priority area routes.

The Chief Minister further requested to extend Chandigarh-Dharamshala route to Chamba under UDAN II besides extending Shimla-Rampur upto Kinnaur. 

The Union Minister assured of all possible support to the state.  Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh,  Chairman, AAI, Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation Devesh Kumar, senior officers of AAI and State Government were present on this occasion.