Punjab: In a major development, Air India has announced plans to launch the much-awaited flights from the upcoming international airport in Ludhiana. The development assumes significance as the airport being built at Halwara airbase is all set to take off with the runway overlaying. Since the entire civil work and most of the area inside the Indian Air Force (IAF) complex, where the airport is coming up, is almost complete, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of issuing a tentative operational date and airport code, which is mandatory for operations. Besides, the bidding process is also being initiated for airlines to operate, which will take a few months before commercial flights can start operating from here.
In a letter sent to Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, who has been the main force behind the project, Air India Group Head (GRC & Corporate Affairs) P Balaji has informed that Air India will start flights from Halwara airport once it is officially operational and all necessary regulatory approvals are received. Appreciating Arora’s continued support and commitment towards the advancement of the country’s aviation infrastructure, he said, “This new development is an exciting milestone in our efforts to expand connectivity in Punjab, which will benefit both the business and tourism sectors.” With this, Air India has become the first airline to offer flight operations from Ludhiana. Earlier, Arora held discussions with Tata Sons and Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who sent his team of officials to visit the Ludhiana airport on August 29 last year. Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal and other senior officials of all state and central agencies said the IAF has given a deadline of March 31 to complete the ongoing overlaying of the runway from where flights will operate. This much-delayed project worth Rs 50 crore took more than three years to complete and missed at least 14 deadlines.
