A team of seven observers led by Engineer Devi Charan and two pilots Captain Sanjay Gupta and Captain Mangola came in the 48-seater plane. The observers said they did not find any difficulty in landing. They said everything went perfect and the same report would be submitted to the Airport Authority of India,which would further decide on a regular Ludhiana-Delhi flight schedule.

The regular flights are slated to start from the first week of May,though the exact schedule is yet to be fixed.

It had been a long pending demand of city residents to resume flights from the Sahnewal Airport,which were suspended a few years ago due to its small runway.

A group of Akali leaders led by former MP Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Harish Rai Dhanda reached the airport on Saturday with a cake and siropas to greet the Air India team.

According to sources,the team members neither came out of the plane,nor allowed the SAD leaders to cut the cake on the runway.

Story continues below this ad

After repeated requests,the sources said,one of the observers,A Dasgupta,came out and took the siropa from Dhillon. The airport staff reportedly told the leaders that they did not want to get themselves involved in any political activity.

Dhillon,meanwhile,took credit for getting flights resumed from the airport. He said: Due to our efforts during the previous SAD-BJP government,a 7.5-acre land was acquired by the AAI. Work started on that land and now Congress members (read Manish Tewari) are claiming all the credit,though the base work was done by us.

Speaking in the test flight,MP Manish Tewari said: The whole of Ludhiana knows whose efforts borne fruits and flights have been resumed. I am thankful to the SAD leaders who are celebrating our efforts with cakes. Sharanjit Dhillon was not able to do anything for this airport during his five years tenure as the city MP.