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The Ludhiana-Hindon flight, which has been conceived as the best possible substitute for Ludhiana-Delhi operations suspended almost two years back, is likely to take off this month, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials have claimed.
Big Charters, which has been awarded the UDAN route ‘Hindon-Ludhiana-Hindon’, was expected to begin operations in summer schedule, but its 19-seater flight couldn’t take off due to multiple reasons.
An AAI official asking not to be named said they have received the schedule of the flight recently. He said the process is in final stages and some formalities are to be fulfilled so that operator can start operations.
The official said if they get remaining clearance now, the flight can start in a week. He said as per the schedule (which might not change), the flight will operate between Ludhiana and Hindon airport on four days — Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Night flights will be stopped from November 15 till the end of March 2024. No flights will be operated from 9 pm to 8 am. The closure of the airport for 11 hours every day will affect 12 domestic flights and one international flight. The Navy, which controls the airport, has informed the airlines about its decision to suspend the night flights to facilitate the work.
“The flight is expected to take off from Sahnewal around 9 am to Hindon and return to Sahnewal around 4 to 5 pm. It will also fly between Hindon and Bathinda during the day. On five nights, the aircraft will be stationed at Sahnewal. On Monday, it is expected to leave for Hindon and will not come to Sahnewal airport in the evening,” AAI officials said. He said once the airline gets another aircraft from Canada, the same will be used in this sector.AAI officials said the officials of the airline had visited Sahnewal to gather information related to operations and space at the airport.
Sources said the AAI authorities have already allotted space to the airline at Hindon airport. They added that initially the airlines had given proposal to start flight between Hindon and Ludhiana on August 12, but that seems difficult as the flier has to fulfil some formalities.
Meanwhile, the flier has incorporated the Ludhiana-Hindon (Ghaziabad) route on its website.
Many residents are waiting for resumption of air services between Ludhiana and Delhi. “Though Hindon is at some distance from Delhi, we will still have an option to travel faster between Ludhiana and Delhi. As of now, we can travel to Delhi by road or train,”, said Dr Gauhar Vatsyayan, a city resident.
The Ludhiana-Delhi flight had last operated on April 9, 2021 after which it was suspended.
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