Chandigarh airport to remain closed from May 12 to 31
Chandigarh airport to remain closed from May 12 to 31 For upgrading the runway, Chandigarh International Airport will remain closed from May 12 to May 31. The high court, in its previous hearing, was told that the airport had to remain functional between May 18 and 20 for a two-day governors’ conference scheduled on Chandigarh from May 19. But later a communication on rescheduling the conference was placed before the Division Bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal. The conference was now scheduled on June 4 and 5 at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Referring to the communication, the counsel appearing for the Airport Authority of India said the initial closure schedule could continue. The high court also directed northern railway authorities to explore the possibility to attaching extra coaches during the closure period. For laying final layers during the re-carpeting process, the Indian Air Force had initially requested for closure of the airport between May 12 and May 31, or May 14 to June 2. The authorities had claimed that the runway length was being extended from the present 9,000 feet to 10,400 feet to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft, such as Boeing 777, 787 and 747 for facilitating long haul flights from Chandigarh to destinations in Europe, USA, Canada and the UK. -PTC News
