The airports of Jagdalpur, Ambikapur, Raigarh and Bilaspur cities in Chhattisgarh would have to first acquire Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) license for use of the said airports for ‘public use’ before starting regional air services, civil aviation sources in the Central Government have informed.
The Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur remains the sole airport in Chhattisgarh so far which had been ‘licensed’ by DGCA in the ‘public use’ category as on November 16, 2015.
It may be recalled that in a significant decision on Thursday night, the Chhattisgarh Government had decided to connect all the major cities of the State via regional flight services. The decision was taken during State Cabinet meeting held at the official residence of CM Raman Singh here, an official press release informed here.
The decision will benefit Jagdalpur, Ambikapur, Raigarh and Bilaspur cities which will get connected to Raipur through intra-State flight service, it was informed in the meeting.
During the meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, it was decided that in accordance with the new Central Aviation Policy 2016 for promoting regional connectivity inside the State, the Chhattisgarh Government will ink a MoU with the Central Government.
Under the regional connectivity scheme, the Central Government will provide an opportunity to various aviation companies to start flights on subsidized rates. This scheme will cover those cities where flight services have been either discontinued for a long time or could not be started.
Notably in December last year, the officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Chhattisgarh Government’s Bastar district officials had jointly visited the Jagdalpur Airport to discuss plans for developing the crucial airport in the insurgency infested district.
A team of AAI inspected the airport and expressed the possibility of developing the Terminal building, Air Traffic Control Tower and hangar, officials stated. Officials stated that the infrastructural set up would also pave way for the functioning of two-seater air-taxi service soon.
Moreover, the technical guidance for building the necessary infrastructure was felt by the officers.
Notably, the AAI was also mulling over plans to begin three-seater air taxi services from Jagdalpur in the near future.
The inspection visit covered issues like security, land availability and other technicalities.
On the other hand, the Raigarh Airport after its Phase-II expansion would be able to handle 275 to 350 passengers in a day while facilitating the operation of Airbus A- 320 class of aircraft both by day and night, officials stated. The airport is already recommended for development at Class-3C operation airport in first phase, permitting landing of aircrafts carrying up to 75 passengers.
This, subsequently, can be developed in to an airport permitting landing of aircraft carrying up to 200 passengers (Class-4C), they stated.
Notably, the Centre in its bid to develop 50 airports in the country had already included the industrial cities of Bilaspur and Raigarh in its plans for expanding aviation services in Chhattisgarh.
The Government was also keen on expansion of the Korba Airport in this industrial city to enable generation of sizeable passenger traffic from the airport, it was learnt.
The airport needs extension for licensing for Class-2C operations in visual flight regime only (due to obstruction around airport area, officials stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is set to gain immensely from Centre’s recent proposed formulation of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to promote regional air connectivity in Indian airports by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India (AAI).