Flight to Jammu takes off, Mumbai now on cards
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 27
Residents of Bathinda and adjoining areas in Haryana and Rajasthan have a reason to cheer. After getting a Bathinda-Jammu flight, they may also get to travel to Hazur Sahib easily as a Bathinda-Mumbai flight will start soon.
Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal today announced that the devotees of the region would soon be able to travel to the Sikh shrine from the Bathinda airport. She said this after flagging off the first Bathinda-Jammu flight from the airport.
“Travelling to Hazur Sahib used to take much time. To shorten the duration, a flight to Mumbai will be started soon from the Bathinda airport,” the minister said.
Air India manager Niranjan Singh said 36 passengers travelled in the first flight to Jammu. However, only 17 passengers travelled from Jammu to Bathinda.
He expressed hope that with the final examinations of children getting over next month and summer vacations approaching, the number of passengers travelling to Jammu will certainly increase.
The minister added that with flights being started to Delhi, Jammu and other places soon, the tourism in the region would also get a boost as till now, travellers used to be wary of the train or road journey.
Hotel Association President Satish Arora also welcomed the move and said increased air connectivity would add to the income of the hotel industry in the region.
Calling it a “boon”, Arora added that the flights would start getting more passengers in the coming months as the fare was also pocket-friendly.
Those associated with the showbiz also expressed happiness over the air connectivity and opined that this would make it easy for the film cast and crew to travel to the city and adjoining areas to consider sites for shooting and promotional events.
