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IAF offers Halwara for international airport
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 5
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has offered its air base at Halwara to the Punjab government for developing a second international airport in the state, a senior official said here today.

"The Punjab government wanted to start a new international airport and we offered the Halwara airbase near Ludhiana," Air Vice-Marshal S. Mukerji, Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Concepts and Doctrine, told reporters.

Punjab has an international airport at Amritsar, and there have been demands for another one as a large number of people from the state have relatives abroad and migrate for employment.

"Instead of developing a new (airport), we said an existing air base could be used," Air Vice-Marshal Mukerji said, adding there were 19 airfields in the country being used by both the IAF and civil airlines.

Noting that the civil aviation industry in India was growing at a rapid pace and more airlines were starting flights connecting smaller towns and cities, Air Vice-Marshal Mukerji said the IAF always tried to accommodate requests for civil airlines to operate from its airbases.

"The idea is to co-exist," he remarked.

Meanwhile after three years of exercises with major world Air Forces, the IAF has now decided on a "going slow" on joint combat manoeuvres citing " overexposure" and "monetary constraints" as reasons.

"Henceforth we plan to have combat exercises with foreign Air Force once in a three year cycle", Air Vice Marshal Sumit Mukerjee, Assistant Chief of Air Staff, said here.

Coming fall, the IAF would be engaging in air wargames for the first time with the Royal Air Force over Gwalior air base, he said.

With United States with which the Indian Air Force has held the largest number of joint exercises, he said that the recent meeting of the Joint steering group had decided to hold Fighter exercises, manoeuvres involving transport planes and war games with helicopter gunships and utility choppers alternatively each year.