E-Paper
Ludhiana-NCR flights from Sept 6; air connectivity to Bathinda to resume soon
Both Bathinda and Ludhiana will be connected with 19-seater twin otter aircraft with Hindon airport in Ghaziabad under the Centre government’s Region Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
After a hiatus of more than two years, Punjab’s two key cities — Ludhiana and Bathinda — will be reconnected with direct flights with the national capital region (NCR) from this month.
Both cities will be connected with 19-seater twin otter aircraft with Hindon airport in Ghaziabad under the Centre government’s Region Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
According to the officials in the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Flybig, a new private entrant of Big Charters, will first start operations in Punjab on September 6 on the Ludhiana route for five days a week from September 6, whereas Bathinda is likely to be reconnected with air services in the third week of this month.
The aircraft will take off from Hindon at 9.25 am and reach Sahnewal domestic airport in Ludhiana at 10.50 am on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Its return journey from Ludhiana will start at 11.10 am.
Director of Hindon Airport Saraswathi Venkataraman said on Friday that the Ludhiana route will start on September 6.
“M/s Big Charter had originally planned to start services in Punjab from September 1 but due to technical and logistic issues, it was deferred. After completing all protocols, aviation firm management today confirmed to start operations next week. They are likely to start operation on the Bathinda route in the second phase later this month,” she said.
The domestic airport at Sahnewal in Ludhiana has been non-functional since April 2021 as the regular Ludhiana-Delhi flight was grounded.
Similarly, Bathinda, which had regular flights to Delhi and Jammu, is also without air service for more than two years.
Alliance Air (AA), the sole service provider from Bathinda, discontinued services on the Delhi route on November 28, 2020, whereas flights to Jammu were suspended on October 27, 2019, after its contract expired.
Executive vice-president of Flybig Rajiv Sharma said initially Ludhiana will have regular flights for five days a week and gradually air connectivity would be available on all days of the week.
“In another three weeks, we expect to start air services to Bathinda from Hindon. It will run five days a week and the passenger load will determine the frequency of the ambitious route,” said Sharma.
