Canada-Amritsar flight to start soon, says Aujla

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 1

The long pending demand of a large number of NRIs and their relatives here for a direct flight between Amritsar and a Canadian city is likely to be fulfilled soon. Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said Air Canada would soon begin flights after it inked a bilateral agreement for the same.

Post 2012, all major international flights were diverted to the privately-run Delhi airport, causing a steep fall in the Amritsar airport’s revenue and international connectivity. Even its revenue from cargo and farm-fresh cargo also plummeted.

The rise of Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport had started after it was elevated to an international airport in 2004 and about Rs 500 crore was invested for its development. However, subprime crisis in the USA and changing global economic scenario initially caused many airlines to pull out their flights from the city. Later, Air India withdrew many flights, citing some reasons and its staff strike.

Air India had sprung a surprise by discontinuing its Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight, which was termed by many as the most successful flight in the annals of the national carrier’s history. The flight, which used to witness over 90 per cent occupancy, was withdrawn on October 31, 2010.

The British Midland International (BMI) had pulled out its Amritsar-Almaty-London flight in October 2012. Before this, Air India had suspended its Amritsar-Toronto flight due to the strike of pilots.

Singapore Airlines had launched thrice a week Amritsar-Singapore flight on October 1, 2004. The service ran well for around five years before being discontinued in early 2009. Later, Jet Airways launched its Amritsar-London flight only to withdraw it after sometime.

Consequently, the revenue from the export of perishable cargo at the airport had also come down drastically.

For instance, the export of perishable goods like fresh vegetables and fruit, produced in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, to Europe came down to zero.

Amritsar Vikas Manch patron r Charanjit Singh Gumtala said it was a welcome move that when Indian airlines were not coming forward with direct flights between Amritsar and Canada, the same gap could be filled by foreign airlines.