Committed to increasing global air connectivity from Chandigarh: Jyotiraditya Scindia

Nitin Jain

LUDHIANA, JUNE 7

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is committed to increasing international operations from Chandigarh with the support of Indian carriers in the near future.

This was stated by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in a communication to Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora.

A-I, Indigo flights to Sharjah, Dubai

Air India is operating two flights per week to Sharjah and Indigo is operating seven flights every week to Dubai from Chandigarh.

Arora had demanded expansion of international connectivity of Chandigarh international airport by linking it to more global destinations.

At present, there are direct flights only to Dubai and Sharjah from Chandigarh international airport.

Responding to the demand, Scindia said any foreign airline can operate to and from an airport in India if it was designated as a point of call in the Air Services Agreement (ASA). Currently, Chandigarh is available as a point of call for the carriers of Dubai and Sharjah only.

He further said Indian designated carriers were free to mount operations to and from any international airport, including Chandigarh, to any foreign destinations under the ambit of bilateral ASAs concluded by India with foreign countries as per mutually agreed capacity limits.

“However, the start of international flights from any point in India is purely a commercial decision of the airlines on the basis of the economic viability of the route and other associated factors,” Scindia disclosed.

The Civil Aviation Minister mentioned that the government has provided an enabling environment for the growth of the civil aviation sector but does not interfere in the operational plans of the airlines.

Scindia added that the operations of airlines were governed by the bilateral ASAs between India and the respective countries.

Arora had urged Scindia to connect international hubs like Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Hong Kong with Chandigarh. “By connecting Chandigarh to these major hubs, we can provide international flyers and investors coming to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal,” Rajya Sabha member had noted.

Air India was operating two flights per week to Sharjah and Indigo was operating seven flights every week to Dubai from Chandigarh.