Jodhpur airport to be shut for a mth for runway work

Jodhpur: Civil flight operations at Jodhpur airport will remain suspended for nearly a month after the Indian Air Force (IAF) issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for runway recarpeting work.According to NOTAM, all commercial flight operations at Jodhpur airport will be halted from 6.30pm on March 29 to 6.30pm on April 27. A NOTAM is an official communication issued to pilots, airlines and aviation authorities to inform them in advance about changes, maintenance work or restrictions at an airport or in airspace. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) clarified on March 15 via its official social media handle that Jodhpur airport operates as a civil enclave, while the runway is under the control of the IAF. Although the first phase of recarpeting was originally scheduled to begin on March 1, the work could not commence on time. As per the plan, the resurfacing work will be carried out in three phases and will be wrapped up by May. The runway was last repaired around seven years ago. In the first phase, about one-third of the runway will be closed, allowing limited operations of smaller aircraft such as Airbus A320, while larger aircraft like A321 will not be able to operate. The second phase, considered the most critical, will involve work on the central portion of the runway, leading to a complete shutdown of operations and suspension of all civil flights. In the final phase, work will be carried out on the remaining section, allowing partial resumption of services. Jodhpur Airport functions as a joint-user facility, with both the IAF airbase and civil aviation sharing the same runway. At present, the airport handles regular flights to cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, with around 14 daily departures (28 movements). Following the NOTAM, airlines such as IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express have suspended bookings for flights operating after March 28.