Naini-Saini airport of Pithoragarh gets DGCA license to run civilian flights
Listen to this articleNaini-Saini airport of Pithoragarh gets DGCA license to run civilian flights
B.D.Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, June 13
The Naini-Saini airport of Pithoragarh has received the much awaited license from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to run the civil flights.”We have received the licence, that is valid for six months to run civil flights from the airport,” said Anurag Arya, manager of Airport and Sub-Divisional Magistrate(SDM), Pithoragarh.
The licence could be availed after the administration fulfil all the conditions of DGCA survey team that had visited the airport last month.” Keeping the conditions of DGCA team in mind we have removed four houses, coming on the way of landing and take off route of planes besides creating other facilities at the airport, as per the suggestions of the team,” said the airport manager.
According to the sources, the airport could now be able to land a 22 seater aircraft on the runway.” The air company, assigned to run civil flights from here has reportedly purchased a 22 seater aircraft specially to run from here, though we have not received any flight schedule till date,” said the airport manager.
The Naini Saini Airport in Pithoragarh was inaugurated in 1994, by the then Union Civil Aviation Minister Gulam Nabi Azad in the presence of UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Only chartered or private flights could take place on which several big leaders like Moto Lal Bora, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav,HD Devgawda, Narsimha Rao, Narendra Modi Vikram Mahajan and several others landed at the airport.
“The civil flights from Pithoragarh to Dehradun could be initiated only in October 2019 by ‘Heritage airline’, which could continue only for 6 months till March 2020.
“ The desire and demand of the people of the region who had been waiting for long has been fulfilled by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the request of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Now long awaited air services will give benefit to the people and promote tourism in the region with the start of civilian flights ,” said Girish Joshi, president of BJP Pithoragarh unit.
