TBM Staff - Mumbai In a major development, Air India has announced plans to launch flights from the upcoming international airport in Ludhiana.
As the entire civil work and also the majority part inside the Indian Air Force (IAF) premises where the airport is coming up are almost complete, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of issuing a tentative operational date and the airport code, which is mandatory for the operations.
Besides, the bidding process for the operations of the airlines is also being launched, which will take a couple of months before commercial flights begin operations.
In a communication to Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, who is the main force behind the project, the Air India group head (GRC and Corporate Affairs) P Balaji has informed that Air India will commence flights to the Halwara airport once it is officially commissioned and receive all necessary regulatory approvals.
“This new development marks an exciting milestone in our efforts to expand connectivity to Punjab, benefiting both business and tourism sector,” he said while lauding Arora’s ongoing support and commitment to the advancement of the country’s aviation infrastructure.
With this, Air India has become the first airline to offer flight operations from Ludhiana.
Earlier, Arora held discussions with Tata Sons and Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who had sent its team of officials to visit the Ludhiana airport on August 29 last year. (Source: The Tribune)
