The Airports Authority of Indias (AAI) had in July announced closing the Jaipur airport runway between 11 am and 6 pm for 18 months starting October 28,2012. The authority made the announcement so that work to increase the length of the runway could be undertaken. The runway,the only one of the airport,handles 20 domestic flights daily. However,the AAI order was reversed by the civil aviation minister Ajit Singh after MPs from Rajasthan brought the matter to him. The runway,according to plan,would have remained open during the night impacting no international flights the airport caters to 13 international flights a week compared to 140 domestic flights weekly. How can they close the runway during the day for 18 months and impact around 20 domestic flights in a state that is tourism-driven, said a senior civil aviation ministry official on condition of anonymity. Majority of the traffic at the Jaipur airport are domestic passengers and the airport operator overlooked them, the official said. Ijyaraj Singh,MP from Kota in Rajasthan,who met the minister on this issue,said that the impact on tourism was not the only reason for concern. Im from Kota and Jaipur is the nearest airport for people from this region. Closure would have impacted air connectivity to a large part of the state, the MP added. There is a need to increase the length of the runway but that can wait till the end of the winter schedule (till March-end), said an AAI official based in Jaipur. Now,the work at the Jaipur airport has been planned to be carried at night starting from April 2013 to ensure minimum disruption of flights.
