PM to open new airport on Sept 11

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

It’s official now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the city on September 11 to inaugurate the new terminal of the Chandigarh International Airport and hand over the keys of flats to allottees belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) and the low income group (LIG) in the Sector 63 housing scheme of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB).

As part of his itinerary, the Prime Minister, who is visiting Chandigarh for the first time after the BJP came to power at the Centre, will also attend the convocation of the PGI here.

Beginning 10 am, the Prime Minister, after landing at the airport, will first go to the PGI, then visit the CHB project in Sector 63 and will later inaugurate the new terminal at the airport.

Officials in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said they were ready with the facility, constructed at a cost of Rs 475 crore. The inauguration would pave the way for starting domestic and international flights from the new terminal, they said.

Once fully functional, the AAI plans to shift the operations of domestic flights from the existing domestic building to the new terminal, that has been segregated into two parts, domestic and international. The departure facility has been planned on the first floor and the arrival facility on the ground floor on the pattern of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Sources said initially domestic operations would be stated from the new terminal. Following clearance from the Ministry of Defence, the schedule of flights to Dubai  by two airlines is likely to be finalised by the Aviation Ministry.

The CHB authorities have speeded up work on the Sector 63 housing project. CHB Chairman Maninder Singh said an 11 kV high tension electricity line to supply power the 2,108 flats constructed under the housing scheme would be set up before the Prime Minister’s visit.