With Capability To Handle Wide-Bodied Aircraft, Chandigarh To Soon Get Direct Flights To Europe And America

Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said on Tuesday (25 September) that Chandigarh International airport will soon be ready for handling wide-bodied aircraft which will link the city to international destinations in Europe and America, reported Daily Pioneer.

The minister was attending a conference in Chandigarh on "Making India an Aviation Hub: Giving Wings to Aviation Sector in North" which was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In the conference the minister said that night operations facilities will also be available at the Chandigarh airport by March 2019.

Introduction of wide-bodied aircraft on the Chandigarh airport would directly air link the city with important international destinations all around the globe. The airport will be developed for handling large aeroplanes like Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing 777 and Airbus 330.

At present Chandigarh airport’s runway can only accommodate middle-bodied aircrafts which can only fly domestically or a few nearby international destinations like Dubai, Bangkok and Sharjah.

Air traffic control and runway operations of the airport lies with Indian Air Force as the airport falls in defence airfield.

Runway repairs were carried out in phased manner this year. First phase of the repairs was from 12 to 26 February and second phase was from 12 May to 31 May.

Sinha pointing out to the increasing number of air passengers in India said aviation sector in India is booming at an unprecedented rate with domestic passenger count increasing from six crore in 2013 to 12 crore in 2017 registering a double digit growth. He also said that overall count of air passenger has increased to 18 crore in 2018 compared to 10 crore in 2014.