)
A preliminary report by engineers of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said it is feasible to build a much-needed larger airport near Shimla. However, the cost building the runway in the hills could be huge, the report added.
Mohan Chauhan, director, tourism & civil aviation, told Business Standard on Sunday: "A team of engineers of the AAI who recently surveyed the proposed site near Kiari Bungalow on the Shimla-Kalka highway some 20 km from here have submitted their report saying it is feasible to build an airport here for large aircraft to land but details need to be worked out."
"Now a detailed report will be prepared on the proposed site by airport building experts of the AAI who will look into the technical, safety and economic aspects in far more detail."
The exact cost of the project would be known only after this report is completed.
Shimla's airport at Jubbarhatti has a 3,900-feet long runway and only small passenger aircraft can land here. Also, there is very little scope of increasing its length.
Hence, there is a need for a larger airport where large aircraft can land in all weather conditions connecting Shimla, a popular tourist destination among other destinations, like Kufri, Chail, Narkanda and even the scenic tribal Kinnaur region.
Officials say over 1,100 bighas of land is available at Kiari Bungalow's proposed airport site and most of this was government land, officials said.
The AAI experts team recently also visited the Kullu valley and surveyed the existing Kullu airport site and explored possibilities of extending the runway here. Currently, the Kullu airport is only 4,100 feet long .
There are two ways to extend the runway here, either by diverting the Beas river or by building a bridge over the river.
There are currently only three small airports in Himachal Pradesh - at Shimla, Kullu and Kangra.
