After two years, Shimla-Delhi flight resumes on September 6

The Alliance Air flight will depart from Delhi at 6.25am and reach Shimla at 7.35am. The return flight will start at 8am and land in Delhi at 9.10am. The introductory all-inclusive fare for Delhi-Shimla and Shimla-Delhi will be ₹2,480 per head

In what could give a fillip to tourism in Himachal Pradesh, Alliance Air, the Government of India-owned air carrier, will resume flight operations on the Delhi-Shimla route from September 6 after more than two years.

Alliance Air’s Delhi-Shimla flight was started in 2017 but was stopped in 2020 as the airline’s lease for the smaller ATR 42 aircraft expired. Since then, the Shimla airport (in photo) has only seen heli-taxi services or occasional chartered flights. (HT file photo)

Yash Vardhan Singh of Alliance Air said that the airline will operate a fixed wing aircraft ATR 42-600 on the route and flights will be further extended to key tourist destinations of Kullu and Dharamshala.

The flight will depart from Delhi at 6.25am and reach Shimla at 7.35am. The return flight will start at 8am and land in Delhi at 9.10am. The introductory all-inclusive fare for Delhi-Shimla and Shimla-Delhi will be ₹2,480 per head.

He said enhanced connectivity will help bolster tourism and trade and contribute to the state’s economic development.

Himachal Pradesh chief secretary RD Dhiman had met Alliance Air authorities in this regard on August 25. There is a plan to extend the flight to Kullu and Dharamshala as well.

Flights on the Delhi-Shimla-Delhi routes would operate seven days a week and between Shimla-Kullu-Shimla four times a week and between Dharamshala-Shimla three times a week.

Being a tabletop airport, the plane cannot take off at full capacity from Shimla amid air turbulence.

Alliance Air’s Delhi-Shimla flight was started in 2017 but was stopped in 2020 as the airline’s lease for the smaller ATR 42 aircraft expired. Since then, the airport has only seen heli-taxi services or occasional chartered flights.

“It will give a fillip to tourism in the state,” said managing director, Himachal Tourism Development Corporation, Amit Kashyap. “It was a long-pending demand of hoteliers and other tourism stakeholders,” he said.