Flight operations at Jammu airport resume

Flight operations to Jammu airport resumed on Saturday after the Indian Air Force (IAF) withdrew its notice to airmen (NOTAM).

An official at the Jammu airport told IANS the matter was taken up by the civil aviation ministry with the defence ministry on Friday after which the IAF withdrew the NOTAM it had issued on the same day, and resulted in suspension of flights to and from the airport.

The notice said the runway at the airport did not have the required load-bearing capacity because of which only those planes should operate to and from the airport that can fly with low-loads.

"The IAF NOTAM has been withdrawn and it has been decided that re-carpetting of runway would be started in a phased manner," an official said.

"Normal flight operations are resuming today (Saturday)," the official said.

More than 2,500 passengers were stranded on Friday because of the technical fault on the runway.

Among those who could not fly out of Jammu nor fly into the city because of flight operation closure were former state chief minister Omar Abdullah and former cricketer and media personality Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Omar was scheduled to fly to Jammu on Friday to address his party workers here.

Sidhu, who had come to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, was booked to fly to Mumbai to attend a film shoot there.