No regular flights from Bathinda, at least till October 26

The summer schedule of domestic flights for the next seven months (March 29 to October 26) does not have any flight to or from the district, the only one in south Punjab with air connectivity. Alliance Air (AA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, was the sole service provider, running flights to and from Delhi and Jammu

In just over four years of its introduction with much fanfare in December 2016, air connectivity to Bathinda district from Delhi and Jammu has been grounded indefinitely. The summer schedule of domestic flights for the next seven months (March 29 to October 26) does not have any flight to or from the district. Bathinda airport director Varinder Singh has confirmed the schedule, adding that it was only district in southern Punjab with air connectivity.

Alliance Air (AA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, was the sole service provider from Bathinda. (HT file)

Alliance Air (AA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, was the sole service provider from Bathinda. Air service to Bathinda was started as part of Centre’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (Udan) under which the fares were kept low.

Sources said that AA chose not to extend operations after the contract ended last year. The airline had discontinued air services on the Delhi route from November 28, 2020, whereas flights to Jammu were suspended on October 27, 2019. Flights from the Bathinda airport were grounded after a lockdown was imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020.

Before the suspension of the flight service, Bathinda-Jammu flight was operating five days a week, barring Tuesday and Thursday.

“In January this year, the authorities had written to two private players to consider running the Delhi-Bathinda flight after the AA decided to stop services,” the airport director said, adding that there had been no response yet. “Only chartered planes have used the airport over the past few months,” he added.

Set up at a cost of ₹5 crore at Virk Kalan village, about 30km from Bathinda city, in October 2012, the airport is adjacent to the Indian Air Force station in Bhisiana.

Bathinda was connected to New Delhi with a thrice-a-week schedule and the route had an average occupancy of 80%. Flights to Jammu had an average occupancy of 70% with most visiting the pilgrimages of Vaishno Devi and Amarnath.

Sources added that with fully functional central institutes like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Central University of Punjab, Bathinda district had a lot of scope for growth in air connectivity, especially from Delhi.