The licence for operations at Shivamogga Airport will expire on November 28, and measures have been taken for its renewal, said Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra on Saturday.
In a press conference in Shivamogga, Mr. Raghavendra said the airport had obtained a licence only up to November 28 in view of ensuring an aerodrome security programme. For that, the Bomb Threat Contingency Plan had to be in place at the airport.
“We have the money of ₹2.5 crore required to purchase the equipment necessary to fulfil the plan. However, the procedure is getting delayed as some equipment has to be imported. If we do not convince the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), there will be technical issues for flight operations from November 28 onwards,” he said.
To speed up the process of ensuring the necessary facility, Mr. Raghavendra said, a meeting was held in Bengaluru under the chairmanship of M.B. Patil, the Minister for Industries and Infrastructure Development, on Friday. Senior officers of the Infrastructure Development Department attended the meeting. “If we cannot fulfil the requirements before the deadline, we may have to appeal to the DGCA for some more time for compliance,” he said.
Further, the Lok Sabha member said the work on ensuring night landing facilities for the flights in the airport was going on. It would be completed within two months. “The new routes connecting Tirupati, Goa and Hyderabad will be operational by November 22,” he said.
Besides the flight operations, steps are necessary to increase revenue by launching allied activities at the airport, he said. “We are in consultation with flight operators to start training centres that impart skills among interested youths to become aerospace professionals. Such activities will generate employment and also increase revenue,” he said.
