The tourism industry in Kashmir is all set to get a boost. The first international flight will take off from Srinagar next week.
Tourism industry in Kashmir is all set to get a boost. The first international flight will take off from Srinagar next week. Estimated at the cost of over Rs100 crore, the state-of-the-art Srinagar international airport will become operational on February 14 and the first flight will take off to Dubai.
The airport would be able to handle 450 international and 500 domestic passengers during peak hours. It will be one of the modern and best airports matching international standards.
The airport will be the second of its kind in the country which will have an in-line baggage X-ray system to handle passengers’ luggage.
“The in-line baggage system is presently installed only at the Hyderabad airport. Ours will be the second airport to have such system. The machine will be able to accept or reject the baggage at the time of being x-rayed on the conveyor belts,” said Rajiv Kalra, director Airports Authority of India (AAI), Srinagar.
Work is in full swing to give final touches to the airport. “We have almost completed all the work barring the aero bridges which will be done later. Presently, one Srinagar-Dubai will be operated weekly,” said Kalra.
Tourism industry is gung-ho about the new initiative, as the international traffic would infuse new life into the sector. Habibullah Mir, former president of Kashmir Hotel and Restaurants Association, said: “We have been awaiting this facility for quite long. We hope apart from West Asia, the European tourists too can come directly to Kashmir. We have around 2,500 rooms available but with new international airport coming, we may need more infrastructures.”
Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya has already announced to promote Kashmir tourism in foreign countries to lure as many as tourists to the Valley.
“Kingfisher will go beyond flying and offer J&K-specific package. Our staff in Europe will sell tourism in J&K as a complete package. We will bring tourists here, arrange for their accommodation, sight-seeing, surface transport and golf,” he said during his recent trip to Kashmir.
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