Local airbase shifting ops to other bases

CHANDIGARH: It’s not just the commercial flights and Tricity passengers who have been affected due to the closure of Chandigarh Airport on account of runway repair. Even the local airbase has to shift its operations to other bases in the region. The airport remained closed from February 12 to 26 in the first phase and now the second closure is planned from May 12 to May 31, 2018.

Sources confirmed to TOI that during the previous closure, the airbase had shifted its flying operations to other bases and once again, it would shift its air operations to other airbases for the next phase of closure. With the shifting of the airbase, a large number of Air Force personnel have to be relocated. Though the exact details of the other airbases, where the air operations were to be moved, have not been disclosed but an Air Force spokesperson confirmed that “they have relocated all its aircraft to alternatives bases in north India”.

Chandigarh airbase is a crucial operational base, which is considered as the spinal cord of the troops deployed at the high altitude areas like Ladakh and Kargil. The versatile, multi-role AN-32 and the strategic lift IL-76 aircrafts, housed at the local Air Force station form the backbone of the nation’s security in Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen and Ladakh sectors and have played vital roles in several conflicts.

The airbase in Chandigarh was established in 1961 and based on the preceding improvement in the late 90s, the runway at Chandigarh was due for repair and enhancement in 2014. The improvement plan involved an extension and strengthening of the runway and other operating surfaces so as to accommodate sustained operations by bigger and heavier military and civil aircraft. Spokesperson of the local airbase said the upgradation process was “challenging” and two complete closures for a fortnight each were envisaged for laying critical bitumen layers on the runway.

“Despite the complicated series of work at the airfield, the IAF has endeavored to reduce delays in arrival and departure of civil flights. The IAF is completely sensitive to the requirements of the citizens of the tricity and is making every effort to ensure timely completion of the runway works, even at the cost of discomfort to its own operating units and personnel. Chandigarh boasts the best traditions of civil-military cooperation in the country and the IAF is committed to these traditions,” the spokesperson added.