Uttaranchal to upgrade two airports

The Uttaranchal government is gearing up to upgrade its two airports--Jollygrant in Dehra Dun and Pant Nagar--to international standards in its bid to increase air connectivity.

The government is also planning to expand its three airstrips--Nainisaini in the Pithoragarh district, Chinyalisaur in Uttarkashi, and Gauchar in the Chamoli district.

Besides this, the government also intended to build at least one helipad in all the 13 district headquarters of the state, Additional Chief Secretary M Ramchandran said. "It is our endeavour to boost tourism so we are upgrading our airports and airstrips accordingly," he said.

Already, Airport Authority of India (AAI) has taken up the work to upgrade Jollygrant airport here to cater to the need of big planes of A-320 airbus with all facilities of an international airport.

At present, only small aircraft of 50-seat can land at Jollygrant where the work of construction of widening of new roads has already started, AAI officials said.

Deccan Airways has already started its daily service between Dehra Dun and New Delhi.

The work with a cost of Rs 100 crore is likely to be completed in one and a half year time, they said. "There will be all facilities of an international airport in Dehra Dun," a top official said.

The main focus of the increasing air connectivity in such a way that all the remote corners of the state should be covered in less possible time, Ramchandran said. In this regard, he said the government was mulling of an idea of starting a mountain airline which should also be low cost.

The sources said the Uttaranchal government was also in touch with other Himalayan states like Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir for starting mountain airline.