Come March, you may get to fly abroad from city

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 30

Paving the way for the operation of international flights from the Chandigarh airport, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Indian Air Force have initiated the process of increasing the strength of the operations staff here.

Increasing the staff strength would mean extended watch hours of the air traffic controller. International flights are likely to begin from the city by March 2015.

Sources in the MoD and the IAF said the watch hours at the airport would only be extended after getting additional ground staff to manage the air traffic controller, communication radars, weather stations, airfield lighting and safety vehicles.

The sources said the matter was pending with the finance wing of the MoD and was likely to be cleared soon.

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry has asked the MoD to extend the flying operations at Chandigarh. The IAF has given its nod for it. "In case the sanction does not come from the MoD, the IAF will be asked to study the possibility of pulling out men from other bases to do the needful,” said the sources.

At present, the IAF performs 18 hours of operations 15 days a month while during the remaining 15 days, the number of hours is reduced.

The civil flights operate within a time span of 12 hours, from 7 am to 7 pm. In case of a favourable decision, the base will operate 18 hours every day or round the clock. The time span of the civil flights will be extended to 11 pm or till midnight.

The IAF uses the Chandigarh base to send supplies to Ladakh and for its other operations that start early morning. “Extending operations for 18 hours daily is possible and the matter is being studied. The demand to allow civil flights till 10.30 pm is welcome,” said an officer.

* Ready for international operations, says airport director

“We are ready for international operations. However, we have not received any confirmation from airlines. Only SpiceJet has initiated a move for a Chandigarh-Dubai flight from March 2015 and we have given our consent for it. Other airlines have been asked to submit a list of their desired destinations by the end of this year,” said JS Balhara, director of the Chandigarh airport.

* Airlines reluctant on starting international flights?

Airlines are thinking twice before announcing any new venture from the Chandigarh airport. Their main dilemma is whether they will be able to make any profits from here or not. Apart from SpiceJet, which has announced to start a Chandigarh-Dubai flight, no other airline has made any such announcement. Officials of several airlines said they were yet to decide on starting international flights from the city.