Various stakeholders criticised the country’s oldest aerodrome, the Juhu airport, along with officials of the Airports Authority of India and civil aviation ministry, during a meeting of the ministry’s standing committee held recently.
MP Shatrughan Sinha asked why — when there have been recent civil aviation policy talks about on-the-spot medical evacuation — did the Juhu aerodrome still not have night-landing facilities when it is already surrounded by a few big hospitals. According to sources, a need for a helipad in major hospitals was also pointed out during the meeting, in order to make medical evacuation smoother and ensure patients reach the operation theatre easily.
Talking to The Asian Age, a top official from one of the stakeholder companies of the aerodrome, said that for the past 30 years, helicopters are being forced to land at Santa Cruz airport due to the non-availability of night-landing facilities in Juhu. Also, due to air traffic congestion at the Mumbai airport, planes are sometimes forced to wait in the air for 20 to 40 minutes, which leads to a huge economic loss for the operator.
According to sources, the stakeholders informed the ministry that the Juhu air traffic control centre operates between 7.30 am and 6.30 pm only, and thus the situation gets worse thereafter and if anyone needs assistance in oil rigs, for instance, no aircraft will be able to fly from Juhu.
