Friday, October 21 2005 15:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: A panel, headed by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, has been constituted to resolve issues between the civilian and military aviation operators and streamline management of the Indian airspace.

The committee was formed after a meeting between Patel and Air Chief S P Tyagi recently in which issues concerning several airports, being operated by the armed forces, came up for discussion.

There are several airports in the country, where civilian air traffic is on the rise, but restrictions on air operations for civilian purposes exist as most of them are operated by the Indian Air Force.

These include Pune, Agra, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Jodhpur and some in the Northeast. The airport at Panaji in Goa is operated by the Indian Navy, while the one at Daman falls under the Coast Guard.

Problems faced by the civilian operators include the timing of operations, the air corridor through which the aircraft should fly, parking areas, air traffic control and management and night landing, sources said.

The vast spread of land available at many of these airports could also be used for civilian purposes keeping in mind the security imperatives, they said.

The air force and civilian entities, including the Airports Authority of India and the airlines, have been in talks to resolve these issues from time to time.

The committee would go into the entire spectrum of problems with a view to resolve them, the sources said.