Chandigarh, April 25
Bathinda today moved a step closer towards a place on the civil aviation map as the ministry of defence gave its clearance for operating four civilian commercial flights daily from the Air Force Station at Bhisiana. This was disclosed by Harcharan Bains, media advisor to the chief minister. This will be the second major civil aviation project to be cleared for Punjab and comes close on the heels of the clearance of the Mohali International Airport.
According to Bains, the necessary clearance was conveyed to the Punjab government through a special communication from the ministry of defence earlier this week. Initially, four flights will operate daily between Bathinda and Delhi in either direction. Keeping in view the requirement of the defence base, these flights will operate between 10.15 am and 3 pm to avoid civil scheduled operations during low-operational flying by fighter aircrafts.
A civil enclave will be constructed at the existing defence airfield to ensure prompt commencement of the civil operations. The state government will require additional land to give to the Airport Authority of India for this purpose.
Meanwhile, the ministry of defence, GOI, has also accorded its approval for setting up the flying institute at Faridkot.
