Vellore (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 04 (ANI): The long pending construction of Vellore airport as the Vellore airport located at Abdullapuram in Tamil Nadu is all set to be completed. A high-level meeting to take stock of safety measures at the airport was held on Wednesday.
According to airport officials, the project, funded under the central government’s Udan scheme, is estimated to be at Rs 65 crore.
The review meeting focused on the security arrangements for the impending airport, said officials.
Airport officials said that the review meeting led by Deputy General Security Manager Vijayakumar and officials from the Vellore District Police undertook the inspection which covered various critical areas including the terminal, passenger arrival and departure zones, runway, lanes, and security gates.
Given the importance of state police in providing security for such small airports, authorities engaged in a joint consultation to determine the required personnel for safeguarding the airport premises, said officials.
Earlier this week, the airport officials had informed that the preliminary signal testing for take-off and landing has been successfully completed at Vellore Airport and steps are being taken to start flight services soon.
In this regard, a preliminary test was done on Sunday to see if the lights specially set up near the runway are visible during the day and if the signal is received from the information control room and the signal tower, the officials added.
The officials further said that the first phase of the test flight conducted at the Abdullapuram airport with respect to signal and lights has been successfully completed.
The next step is to land the aircraft on the runway and test it. We have applied for permission to operate the aircraft, they added. They said that the permission will be granted soon and the flight services from here will start soon.
The officials further said that a test aircraft belonging to the Air Transport Commission was flown from New Delhi to Vellore via Chennai as part of the preliminary testing.
The aircraft was tested by low-flying five times near the Abdullapuram airstrip. It was inspected by three persons, including a pilot from the Aircraft Inspection Unit in New Delhi, the officials said.
An ambulance and a fire engine were also kept ready near the airport runway as a precautionary safety measure.
The renovation work of the airport at Abdullapuram next to Vellore has been underway since 2017 under the central government’s Udan project.
Small planes that can carry about 19 passengers will operate from here to Chennai, Bengaluru, Tirupati and other cities. An 850-meter-long runway has been constructed for it.
The works including the airport terminal, cargo terminal, information control room, radar equipment, signal tower, station office, and passenger waiting room renovation works have been completed so far. (ANI)
