Even though round-the-clock operations at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport began in April 2019, the authorities have not proposed any new international flights in their winter schedule, which will be implemented from October 29.
Apart from the existing Sharjah and Dubai flights, there are no new international flights proposed in the winter schedule. The Dubai flight operates daily while the Sharjah flight operates three days a week.
Additionally, no new domestic flights have been added this time, and no new destinations have been included. Currently, there are 33 domestic flights operating from the airport.
Rakesh Ranjan Sahay, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Chandigarh International Airport, said in the proposal for the winter schedule, no new international flights have been proposed, and there has been no increase in domestic flights either. The only change they have suggested is a change in timings due to the winter season. The winter schedule will be approved on October 27 and will be implemented from October 29, he added.
The authorities were supposed to initiate a direct flight to London in October this year, and several meetings were held with the British High Commission for this purpose. The direct flight was intended to land at either Heathrow Airport in London or Birmingham Airport, approximately 170 km from the UK capital.
{{/usCountry}}The authorities were supposed to initiate a direct flight to London in October this year, and several meetings were held with the British High Commission for this purpose. The direct flight was intended to land at either Heathrow Airport in London or Birmingham Airport, approximately 170 km from the UK capital.
{{/usCountry}}Another senior officer stated that the flight is now expected to commence in the coming summer and airlines have already conducted trials for tickets.
Anurag Aggarwal, former president of the Mohali Industries Association and an industrialist, said it has long been a major demand of industrialists to have more international flights from Chandigarh. However, they fail to understand the reason behind the delay. The international airport was established to promote trade, which can only be achieved through connectivity to various parts of the world, along with a robust domestic network.
It was on September 11, 2015, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chandigarh International Airport.
Box: Advanced landing system to be utilised for the first time
Last year, the Airforce authorities installed the CAT-2 instrument landing system (ILS) at the Chandigarh International Airport. The installation of this much-needed advanced instrument landing system will be utilised for the first time during the winter season, enabling aircraft to land even under 50-meter visibility
ILS is a radio navigation system that provides pilots with short-range guidance for landing in poor visibility conditions. Presently, an aircraft requires at least 350-meter visibility to land safely at the airport
The main runway at the Chandigarh airport has two sides — runway 29 and runway 11, both of which are now equipped with CAT-11