Jammu, Aug 16: Jammu airport’s upgraded and newly expanded state-of-the-art terminal building will open tomorrow, senior officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Union Minister for Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju will inaugurate the new building in the presence of Union ministers of state Jitendra Singh and Jayant Sinha.
“The Jammu Airport is set to offer a world-class experience to passengers with an expanded and modernised terminal. The inauguration will be held tomorrow,” Jammu Divisional Commissioner Mandeep Bhandari said.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and state Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta will also be present at the opening.
Bhandari said all arrangements relating to security, traffic management, including alternative traffic routes, and other logistics have been taken care of.
Police and other administration officers have been directed to maintain the highest levels of coordination, he added.
Director Airports Authority of India (AAI) D K Gautam said the departure hall on the ground floor of the Rs 80-crore project was ready.
“It will be open to passengers from tomorrow,” Gautam said.
The modification of an operationally busy airport such as the one in Jammu was a “challenging task”, he said.
He said it was a “major achievement” for AAI that the expansion work in an airport considered “hypersensitive” because of security restrictions and faced with space constraints was carried out with any flight disruptions and with the minimum inconvenience to passengers.
“Three aerobridges are also expected to be delivered by the end of September and will be commissioned by mid- November,” he added.
A tensile fabric canopy from airport ticketing counters to the exit gate was almost ready and will protect passengers from extreme weather conditions, he said.