First commercial Air India flight from Delhi lands at Ludhiana’s Halwara terminal; turns into BJP show

Fulfilling a 30-year-old demand, this operationalisation is a massive boost for our local industry and economic growth, Bittu said as he expressed gratitude to Prim Minister Narendra Modi “for this visionary gift” to Punjab. “The sky is the limit for Ludhiana’s trade and exports,” Bittu said.

Meanwhile, celebrations were dampened for the ruling AAP in Punjab following the recent arrest of its Industry and Commerce Minister Sanjeev Arora by the Enforcement Directorate. Arora, the AAP MLA from Ludhiana West, was scheduled to travel on the inaugural flight, but is currently in ED custody.

The inaugural flight brought 61 passengers to the terminal that has been developed by expanding the existing Indian Air Force (IAF) base in the Raikot subdivision.

While airport authorities had planned a “water cannon salute” to welcome the first flight, it was dropped at the last minute “as there were some security issues,” said Jagir Singh, chief executive officer of Halwara airport.

Jagraon Additional Deputy Commissioner Manjit Singh Cheema, who welcomed the first flight, said: “We had arranged traditional Punjabi folk music and dance to welcome the passengers”.

Initially, there will be two daily flights between Delhi and Halwara, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Air India in an official statement, said the inaugural flight from Delhi landed at Ludhiana’s Halwara airport at 7:03 am today, and the return flight from Ludhiana departed at 8 am.

Air India will operate two daily flights between Delhi and Ludhiana using its A320 family aircraft that has the carrying capacity of 160.

Air India said the AI481 will depart from Delhi at 5:55 am and arrive in Ludhiana at 7:05 am, while AI482 will depart from Ludhiana at 7:55 am and reach Delhi at 9:10 am. Similarly, AI483 will depart Delhi at 12:55 pm and arrive in Ludhiana at 2:10 pm, while AI484 will depart Ludhiana at 2:40 pm and land in Delhi at 3:55 pm.

The flights to and from Ludhiana are timed to offer seamless onward connectivity via Delhi to Air India’s international network, including to destinations such as London, Paris, Milan, Rome, and Birmingham, enabling guests to travel seamlessly using a single ticket and unified baggage allowance, with through check-in of baggage, Air India said in a statement. Air India guests will also enjoy the convenience of same-terminal transfers at Delhi airport to connect between their domestic and international flights.

Ludhiana Takes Flight! 🛫

​A historic milestone reached today as we boarded the inaugural flight to Halwara Airport along with MP Vikramjit Sahney Ji and MP Rajinder Gupta Ji.

​Fulfilling a 30-year-old demand, this operationalization is a massive boost for our local industry… pic.twitter.com/8AtttH4mMx

— Ravneet Singh Bittu (@RavneetBittu) May 15, 2026

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Occupancy remains a concern

Sources said that while 61 passengers arrived in first flight from Delhi and 99 took return flight from Halwara; in the second trip, 101 arrived from Delhi and 38 took the return flight. The capacity of the Air India A320 aircraft is 160.

Meanwhile, Ludhiana residents fear the repeat of previous such ventures when the flights to Delhi from Sahnewal domestic airport (now closed) were discontinued due to low occupancy. Many residents said that Halwara airport may prove to be “white elephant” if occupancy for Delhi flight fails to pick up.

“This airport can’t really work till we don’t have direct flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru and other important cities. For Delhi, people from Ludhiana mostly prefer Shatabdi train or own vehicle. One-way flight ticket is for Rs 4000-4500 which isn’t budget-friendly for family travels,” said a local resident.

Ludhiana deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain however said: “Ludhiana residents can now plan their international trips conveniently as the Air India is facilitating connecting flights from Halwara via Delhi. For instance, if someone wishes to travel to London from Ludhiana, they don’t need to check-in baggage again at Delhi.”

While the Punjab cabinet approved the project in December 2018 and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) took possession of 161.27 acres of land for the project in May 2020, the civil work was stuck for long due to fund crunch.

Although the Public Works Department (PWD) of Punjab government was allotted the civil work in December 2021, the funds were not received until November 2022, and the contractor stopped the work midway. The work was restarted only by December 2022 after the intervention of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann under the AAP government and funds were released. It was decided that the entire cost would be borne by the Punjab government and that the AAI would reimburse it later by monetizing the non-functional Sahnewal domestic airport.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Jalandhar in February, had virtually inaugurated the terminal building at Halwara airport in Ludhiana.