HimVani
Bhuntar: The new terminal building of Kullu airport at Bhuntar was inaugurated today by Prafull Patel, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation.On the occasion, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister urged the Union Minister to include night landing facility at the airport and to increase frequency of Air India flights to the valley. He urged to expand Shimla airport to accommodate landing of bigger aeroplanes besides creating quality infrastructure in all the existing airports within the State. He said that air travel was the only alternative for high paying tourists due to lack of adequate railway network.
Dhumal said that need had emerged to create quality infrastructure to cater to high paying tourists and expansion of the existing airports. He said the Kullu-Manali airport needed further expansion since the valley was visited by maximum number of tourists all round the year. He said that night landing facility would further add to the regular air connectivity to the area. He emphasized the need for expansion of Shimla airport, which lacked some modern facilities. He said that the expanded airport would be capable to accommodate landing of bigger flights. He said that the Air India flights needed to be carried daily so that regular air connectivity was maintained with all the airports in the State. He added that there were 90 lakh tourists who visited the State during last year which included 4 lakh foreign tourists. He said that tourism was the fastest growing industry of the State and required quality infrastructure.