A view of the airport. Picture by Diptendu Dutta

Siliguri, Jan. 22: A day after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) flight failed to land at Bagdogra because of poor visibility, three more flights from Delhi and Calcutta were cancelled today due to the same reason.

?This was the fourth time this month that an aircraft either had to go back after circling over the airport, or the flight had to be cancelled because of fog,? a ground staff at Bagdogra said.

?Without proper landing facilities and trained pilots, the situation is deteriorating at a time when passenger and freight traffic is picking up.?

At present, the pilot of a civil jet aircraft requires about 2,400 m of clear visibility to land at Bagdogra. ?With the installation of Instrument Landing System (ILS), this distance can come down to 1,000 or even 800 m, like in Delhi where Category 3 ILS is used,? an airline official said.

The aerodrome is maintained by the Indian Air Force (IAF), which takes landing charges from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The cost of installing ILS is between Rs 11 and 17 crore, which the defence ministry is reluctant to invest here.

?Our pilots fly different aircraft and their level of training is also very different,? an IAF officer at Bagdogra said. Fighters, in fact, can operate in foggy conditions and even during the night.

But since the base caters to a growing civilian traffic, some measures would have to be taken to avoid inconvenience to passengers and huge losses in terms of burnt aviation fuel and perishable goods, observers feel.

In fact, Kingfisher Airlines could not commence its proposed round trip to Mumbai from Bagdogra as the air force refused to allow civilian landings after 5 pm, a source at the airport said. He said Agartala and Imphal airports were better off as the AAI had installed ILS there.

At a time when the chief minister, his Cabinet colleagues, chambers of commerce members, tour operators and residents are seeking the upgrade of Bagdogra Airport to international standards, basic modern-day facilities are absent.

The state government has repeatedly asked the Centre for improvements here.

Airport sources said it is likely that the IAF would be decreasing its presence at Bagdogra, ultimately maintaining only a copter squadron there. ?In that case, the defence ministry could hand over the airport to the civil authorities, who could then carry out the upgrade,? the source said.

The sooner the decision is taken the better for the importance of Bagdogra is increasing.

?According to the latest journal of air traffic movement, Bagdogra handles the highest volume of cargo among the 24 national airports in the country,? said airport director S.P. Mody.