Chandigarh airport adds no new destination this winter

Just one new flight added to Mumbai, taking total number to 36; international count stagnant at two

Chandigarh International Airport yet again dashed hopes of travel buffs, tour operators and industrialists as there is no new destination, either on domestic or international circuit, announced in its winter schedule released on Friday.

The schedule will come into effect on October 27 and remain operational till March 28 next year.

The summer schedule released in March this year had added some new destinations in the domestic circuit. However, the winter schedule has nothing exciting to offer, except changes in flight timings and addition of Air Vistara’s Mumbai flight that takes the total number of flights from existing 35 to 36.

Except of two international flights, all other are in domestic circuit.

Meanwhile, Air India subsidiary Alliance Air on Friday announced a 72-seater flight between Chandigarh and Dharamshala from November 16, to operate every day except Sunday. However, airport spokesperson Prince Dildar said it has not been listed yet.

‘Poor response from airlines’

There were high hopes of better connectivity, especially in the international sector, with the airport going for round-the-clock operations from April this year, after expansion of the runway length and other infrastructure upgrades.

Six months later, passenger growth remains stagnant even as it was seen the airport was seen as having high potential in North India after Delhi.

Airport spokesperson Prince Dildar said the airport is getting a poor response from the airlines despite allotment of slots to them.

“We have all facilities available at the airport now. Hopefully, we will improve connectivity in near future as we are in a regular touch with all major operators,” he said.

Meanwhile, advocate ML Sarin, who is assisting the Punjab and Haryana high court as an amicus curie in a public interest litigation regarding the airport’s expension, said:“We will bring this issue into the notice of the court in the next hearing on November 1.”

Sanjeev Vashisht, former president of the Mohali Industrial Association (which moved the PIL) and a member of the advisory committee of the Airport Authority of India, said it is “painful” to see the airport infrastructure not being put to proper use. “Earlier, poor response was blamed on infra limitations, which is no more the case. Airport authorities must ensure addition of new flights, as many destinations remain untouched despite a huge demand of local travellers,” he said.

Still not fog-ready

The airport is still not equipped with advanced instrument landing system (ILS) that allows flights to land in low visibility.

The airport spokesperson said they have made some improvements in the ILS system, wherein flights can operate when the visibility drops to 750 metres.

However, visibility goes down below 500 metres amid fog during winters in Chandigarh. This leads to frequent cancellations and delays, especially during the peak season in December and January. A similar plight is expected this winter.

“Airport is working on installing advanced ILS that will allow flight operations in visibility below 100 metres. We are likely to make it operational by March next year,” said the spokesperson.