In big aid for the Punjabi diaspora within the United Kingdom and native business, the Chandigarh International Airport is prone to begin a direct flight to London by October.

“The authorities had a meeting with the British High Commission for starting the flight to London. Proposals have been sent and it is expected to start from October, as the process will take nearly eight months to complete. The direct flight will most likely be to the Heathrow Airport in London or Birmingham airport, which is around 170km from the UK capital,” said Rakesh Dembla, chief executive officer, Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHAIL), adding that the proposal was also being pushed by Chandigarh member of Parliament Kirron Kher.

Over six years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chandigarh International Airport on September 11, 2015, the airport still has only two international flights – to Sharjah and Dubai, which were also stalled multiple times amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dembla said the Sharjah flight was operational currently, while that to Dubai will resume from March 28, when the summer flight schedule will kick in. The detailed summer schedule is expected to be released in the first week of March.

“Apart from resuming the twice-a-week Dubai flight, the plan is to increase domestic flights from 56 to 76 (both arrivals and departures). With this, most of the country will be covered from Chandigarh,” he mentioned.

Hailing the proposed flight to London, Anurag Aggarwal, president, Mohali Industries Association, mentioned, “It has been a serious demand of industrialists, who’ve for lengthy persevered for extra worldwide flights from Chandigarh, even by a case within the Punjab and Haryana excessive court docket. The worldwide airport was constructed for promotion of commerce, which is feasible solely by connectivity to a number of components of the world, together with a large home community.”

While campaigning for the Punjab meeting elections in Mohali earlier in February, Union minister for aviation and concrete affairs Hardeep Singh Puri had assured to do the needful for beginning flights from Chandigarh to Europe and North America.

Footfall improves

Meanwhile, with the Covid instances waning, the airport has additionally began recording extra enterprise.

KP Singh, spokesperson of the airport, mentioned, “Between January and mid-February, the airport saw a 40% drop in its footfall, which was down to 6,000 a day. But over the past one week, it has increased to 10,000 with more people resuming travel by air.”

Four months after launch, cargo facility but to take off

Even although the air cargo facility on the airport was launched in November 2021, its operations have but to kick off for need of approvals from the Airport of Authority of India.

Dembla mentioned some approvals relating to customs and safety clearances had been awaited from the authority, however ought to be in earlier than the top of March.

Air cargo or air freight permits speedy transportation of economic items by an air service.

The cargo complicated has been arrange on 14,127 sq. meters at a price of 11.5 crore. The 5 cargo sheds are outfitted to deal with each home and worldwide cargo, together with perishable items. Rates for varied consignments to be dealt with by the ability had been authorised forward of the inauguration in October final 12 months.

At current, CHAIL solely gives a typical screening facility for home cargo, whereas the airways — Air India, IndiGo, Vistara and GoAir — are dealing with the products on their very own.