FIRST NIGHT FLIGHT FROM SRINAGAR
Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport of Srinagar is one of strategic asset for the military as well as civil. Since all routes of ingress and egress to the Valley close during winter months, this Airport offers the much-needed connectivity to Kashmir. Originally, the Airport was used only by Indian Air Force, however now cargo and tourists throng the Valley alike all year round. The Airport also serves as a base for a plethora of Hajj flights outbound and inbound from Mecca. In the last few years, the annual passenger traffic has been close to 2.8 million due to the beauty and business opportunities in Kashmir. It has the longest runway in the region with the capability of handling wide-body jets such as Boeing 747 and Airbus A320.
Despite the significance of this Airport, it grappled with a major problem till now, which was the lack of infrastructure to facilitate night flying. Till March 2021, the last flight from the Airport would take off at 1715, post which the Airport would shut down. In August 2018, a test flight landed after dark to demonstrate that the Srinagar Airport is safe for night operations, courtesy an upgrade of the runway lighting and an extension of watch hours by the Indian Air Force. On 19 Mar 2021, the first commercial operator took off from Srinagar Airport post sunset. GoAir flight G8 7007, an Airbus A320 took off at 7:35 PM making history at this Airport. Going forward many operators will be moving in and out of the Valley post sunset.
This would lead to more tourists visiting the valley as timings and flight operations would increase drastically. It also reinforces the belief that normalcy is setting in the Valley like never before. The locals are happy with the new developments as it means more business opportunities and less flight cancellations due to bad weather conditions. Hopefully, Kashmir will soon attain the full potential of its tag ‘Switzerland of East’.
