Why number of international flights from Chandigarh has not increased, asks HC

A division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal said, “There is also no explanation coming from the Chandigarh International Airport Authority Limited as to why there are only two international flights from Chandigarh (UT and capital of two prosperous states) on daily basis, to Sharjah and Dubai. It is unfortunate to note that even a district headquarter like Amritsar has more than 14 international flights to various countries.”

The high court said that apart from other issues related to the Chandigarh airport, the issue of exploring shorter route from Chandigarh to Chandigarh International Airport was discussed and certain orders were passed wherein in principle it was agreed on May 25, 2023, that 14.02 acres of land will be acquired and 0.98293 hectares of defence land will be surrendered for construction of alternative route through three villages, namely Jagatpura, Kandala and Jhurehri and a committee headed by S P Jain, Additional Solicitor General of India, was constituted, which was directed to submit timeline for ensuring expeditious completion of the proposed shorter route.

For the record, the Chandigarh airport falls in the jurisdiction of Mohali, a few kilometres away from Chandigarh.

In the order the high court also noted that “the main issue of Chandigarh Airport having negligible international flights, the non-availability of night landing facility was the biggest obstacle, which was resolved by installation of CAT-II ILR in March 2023. However, the timeline for construction of alternative route is still hanging fire and has not been submitted till date”.

The high court said that in view of the stand of the IAF, “it would be appropriate to requisition a certificate from the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, New Delhi, as to whether there is any plan for extending the airport and if yes, then on which side of the airport? The Secretary, Department of Civil Aviation, Punjab, is also directed to file an affidavit explaining as to what steps have been taken to increase the number of international flights from Chandigarh International Airport”.

While ordering to list the matter on November 6, the high court also made it clear that “if the affidavits are not filed well before the date fixed, the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, shall appear virtually before the court on the next date”.