Union Civil Aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal Sunday visited the under-construction Hirasar airport on the outskirts of Rajkot to review the progress of the work. The visit came days after the approach lighting system was installed at the airport, preparing the runway for test flights.
“Bansal and Rajkot district collector Arun Mahesh Babu first inspected the runway and then the apron area, under-construction box-culverts, terminal, the temporary terminal developed recently, fire station and the approach road connecting the airport to the highway,” an official release from the Gujarat government said.
Loknath Padhi, general manager (project, civil) of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), briefed the secretary about the progress in the airport project. Later on, Bansal chaired a meeting with AAI officers, the Rajkot district administration and contractors to review the progress of the project.
Bansal’s visit comes around 10 days after the approach lighting system, which assists pilots in landing and take-off of aircraft, was installed. The Rajkot collector had, on January 10, said that test flights to test the runway would start as soon as the landing lights, a temporary terminal, air traffic control tower and fire station were in place.