IAF earmarks 39 military airfields & 9 ALGs for civil aircraft

The Indian Air Force earmarked 39 military airfields and nine Advance Landing Grounds for use by civil aircraft said IAF on Tuesday.

“IAF has earmarked 39 military airfields and 9 Advance Landing Grounds for use by civil aircraft. This Joint User Airfield scheme now gives access to areas that were earlier considered remote,” said Indian Air Force.

The 39 airfields from where civilian flights now operate include Agra, Adampur, Allahabad, Awantipur, Bareilly, Bagdogra, Bhuj, Bidar, Car Nicobar, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Jammu, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jorhat, Kargil, Leh, Pune, Silchar, Srinagar, Tezpur and Thanjavur. The nine ALGs, in turn, include Along, Walong, Tawang, Ziro and Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh.

In June last year, IAF announced the handing over of around 40 acres of defence land to the Airports Authority of India to develop civil terminals and necessary infrastructure at seven locations to facilitate the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in tune with the UDAN (ude desh ka aam nagarik) policy. These airfields are Bagdogra, Darbhanga, Adampur, Utarlai, Sarsawa, Kanpur and Gorakhpur.

The IAF has been providing MoCA with an airport apron wherever it is not available, as well as its own areas for parking and other facilities. Moreover, wherever MoCA does not have dedicated civil terminals, IAF, in coordination with the Airport Authority of India, facilitates access of passengers to the air force station from where they subsequently board flights.

ALSO READ – Indian Air Force procures 6 HAL Dornier aircraft for INR 667 crore

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry signed a contract for the procurement of six Dornier-228 aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at the cost of INR 667 crore.

The aircraft was used by IAF for Route Transport Role and communication duties. Subsequently, it has also been used for training transport pilots of the IAF.

The present lot of six aircraft will be procured with an upgraded fuel-efficient engine coupled with a five-bladed composite propeller. The aircraft is ideally suited for short-haul operations from semi-prepared/short runways of the North East and island chains of India. The addition of the six aircraft will further bolster the operational capability of the IAF in remote areas.