Srinagar: The much-awaited night flight operations at the Srinagar International Airport are likely soon.
In this context, Go-Air Friday conducted the successful trial at the Srinagar International Airport. A nod from the central aviation regulator DGCA is required before the Valley can witness continuous night flight operations.
A senior officer of Airports Authority of India confirmed that the plan for night flights was in the pipeline for long but added that “it was not finalised as the approval from DGCA is yet to be received”.
The officer said that the night flight operations were expected to start from next week on regular basis but reiterated that the DGCA nod was imperative in this context.
At present, the watch hours (flying time) is till 5:30 pm but we concerned players expect that it will be extended to almost 8- 8:30 pm so that the night flights can operate.
Once approved, it would be a massive relief to travelers. As GoAir completed the maiden successful trial, people are hoping that flights will operate more regularly and other carriers will also start the same soon.
The first night flight was operated from Srinagar Airport tonight by Go Air to New Delhi at 1915 hrs. “GoAir salutes the spirit of Srinagar. History has been created with the 1st night flight,” an official of GoAir said.
Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce, Ranjan Prakash Thakur who was present on the occasion greeted the crew of the flight and other ground personnel.
Speaking on the occasion, the Principal Secretary said that the start of the night operations from Srinagar is the dawn of a new era as it will improve air connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that this significant development will boost the tourism sector of J&K as it will increase the tourist footfall in the region.
He further said that after this development, the long pending demand of tour and travel operators has been fulfilled and this will substantially help in economic growth of UT as tourism sector forms the core of economy here.
With start of night operations of flights, the summer schedule will see a substantial increase in flights to J&K.
