Chandigarh airport will examine air traffic for ‘point of call’ tag: Union minister

The Union government is encouraging Indian carriers to secure advantage of international passenger traffic and ensuring airports at India’s metropolitan cities become international aviation hubs, says minister

Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu on Monday highlighted the absence of the “point of call” designation for the Chandigarh International Airport that has only two international flights — to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Responding to his question in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session, Union civil aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said the government would examine the traffic generated by the UT airport for designating it as a “point of call” which is a pre-requisite for international airlines to operate from a particular airport to global destinations.

Chandigarh International Airport (HT Photo)

He said while designating airports in India as “point of call” for international flights, the Union government is encouraging Indian carriers to secure advantage of international passenger traffic and ensuring airports at India’s metropolitan cities become international aviation hubs.

MP Sandhu said the Chandigarh airport is currently operating at only 60% of its capacity due to its exclusion from the “point of call” list because of which international flights do not land there. “It would be of immense convenience to the people of Punjab. When can we expect Chandigarh Airport to be included in the point of call list?” he asked the Union minister.

The minister replied, “The Chandigarh airport already possesses connectivity to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The designation of a ‘point of call’ becomes a requirement primarily when foreign carriers intend to operate flights to our specific airports. If India’s domestic airlines (Indian carriers) wish to fly to any destination across the globe under the framework of Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA), they are at liberty to operate from any of our airports provided that the airport is designated as an international airport like Chandigarh Airport”.