Jammu, April 27 (IANS) The Srinagar international airport will close for commercial flights for about a fortnight in June so that the runway can be upgraded, an official said Tuesday.

The airport would close from June 15 and commercial flight operations would be shifted to Awantipore Air Force station, 35 km south of Srinagar, for that period.

This is the second time in the past 12 years that commercial flight operations would undergo this change.

In the summer of 1998, the airport was closed for three months and flights operated from Awantipore.

The closure of the airport was taken up by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at a meeting with Defence Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi Monday. Abdullah told the union minister that shifting commercial flights would "adversely affect the tourist season", an official release issued after the meeting revealed.

Kashmir attracts a plethora of tourists from across India and abroad in June and the wealthy prefer to travel by air to save time.

Antony, however, has assured the chief minister that the closure would last for a minimal period.