Barbora boards his helicopter at Bagdogra on his way to Shillong. A Telegraph picture

Bagdogra, June 25: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has no objection to the upgrade of Bagdogra Airport for international operations.

This was formally announced today by the Air Officer Commanding-in-chief, Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal P.K. Barbora. The air force boss arrived here for an official visit around eight this morning. Barbora left for Shillong in Meghalaya around 12 noon.

“The required infrastructure and personnel to run the various departments on a 24-hour basis have to be in place. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will have to take care of that as the IAF has its limitations in operating aspects like the air traffic control and fire tenders round the clock,” Barbora said.

Speaking to reporters for the first time after taking over as the air chief in the eastern sector on April 2, the Shillong-based Air Marshal, however, asserted that there was no question of handing over the IAF-run airfield to the AAI. “Bagdogra will remain one of our frontline air bases as the crucial Siliguri corridor cannot be exposed to risks.”

The air force boss fully appreciated the need for improving the civil aviation infrastructure.

In fact, the infrastructure that was required and the departments with additional personnel “had all been submitted in writing to the civil aviation ministry quite some time back,” he said. In all probability, the Pune model would be adopted, he added.

“The runway and airfield there are the responsibility of the air force, with the AAI maintaining a civil enclave for the operation of domestic flights, as is the case here. Two years ago, Pune was upgraded to an international airport. Unfortunately, the AAI has provided only about 15 per cent of the manpower and infrastructure that it had promised there and the IAF has had to fill in the gaps,” Barbora alleged.