First international flight will take off from Chandigarh on September 15: Air India

“Our first International flight being operated by Air India Express with brand new Boeing 737 – 800 Aircraft from Chandigarh to Sharjah will start from September 15,” said M R Jindal, station manager Air India in Chandigarh. He said the flight would operate three days a week- Monday, Thursday and Saturday and the booking for the first flight would start from Thursday.

Jindal added, “Departure from Sharjah for the flight is 1245 hours and arrival at Chandigarh will be 1715 hours. The departure from Chandigarh for Sharjah will be at 1815 hours and arrival at Sharjah would be 2000 hours.”

Earlier on July 31, IndiGo Airlines had announced a direct non-stop daily flight from Chandigarh to Dubai from September 26. The announcement had come after the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while hearing a petition filed by Mohali Industries Association, had been pulling up the Airports Authority of India (AAI), union civil aviation ministry, state governments of Punjab and Haryana, private airlines and Chandigarh Airport Authority for not starting international flights from the airport for several months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new terminal, known as ‘Chandigarh International Airport, located in Mohali on September 11, 2015. It was constructed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore.

In July, Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture Kanwardeep Singh, along with 11 members, visited the city and held a meeting with officials of Civil Aviation and MHA to resolve the delay in starting international flights from the city.