New Delhi-Ludhiana regular flights might start by August this year. It’s a good news for all the people travelling from Ludhiana to New Delhi and vice versa. The city’s hope for air connectivity is likely to be fulfilled by August this year as the city’s name has been enlisted in the regional connectivity scheme of the Central Government.
The New Delhi-Ludhiana flights will be started under the central government’s UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. Under the UDAN scheme, the passengers will be getting at least half the tickets at a subsidised airfare.
Ludhiana-New Delhi Flights Coming Soon
As per the sources, two airlines including Air Deccan and Spice Jet had shown interest in plying from Sahnewal Airport city. However, the other airlines did not show interest in playing from the Sahnewal airport city as the runway length is not adequate for their flights.
The regular commercial flights have not started from the airport but the chartered flight do operate. The director of the airport said that 50% of the flight tickets would be available at the price of Rs. 2500 and the rest 50% would be available at the market rates. Air Deccan has two aircraft of different sizes.
Ludhiana- The City Of Luxury Cars Has No Air Connectivity
The Industrialists in Ludhiana were frustrated due to the lack of air connectivity in the city. The SAD government did highlight the issue but instead of setting up an airport in Ludhiana it was set up in Bathinda.
An Industrialist said that it is shameful that an airport was being set up in Bathinda and Ludhiana wasn’t provided infrastructure for the airport. He said that the government must develop and expand the airport as it is essential for the growth of the city.
Ludhiana-New Delhi flights will be started but the flights to other cities like Mumbai would be started later depending upon the need and demand of the industry. The flights had been started earlier but due to certain factors like visibility issues and delay in flights the flights had to be stopped. Ludhiana’s MP said that the government had ordered to start the flights before August 30, 2017. He said that the flights will be starting by June after the survey is complete.
Airport’s Upgradation Was Put On Hold
The Industrialists have been demanding an upgrade for the airport but the process for acquiring more land for the airport is still going on. The hope of airport’s upgrade is almost finished as the centre gave a green signal to the construction of a new Greenfield airport at Machhiwara last month.
The new Greenfield airport is farther by 40 km than the existing Sahnewal airport. The upgradation of Sahnewal airport was put on hold. A flight from Sahnewal airport to New Delhi was discontinued in mid 90’s but later Air India started a flight from Ludhiana-New Delhi and was later discontinued in 2014 due to poor visibility and delay in flight timings.
The SAD-BJP government did make plans for increasing the length of the runway and also for expanding the airport but no execution was done.
Source: The Tribune
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