Amritsar-UK flight to work as a catalyst for development: Scindia

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia virtually inaugurated a direct flight between Amritsar and Gatwick in the UK, saying the new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the region’s development.

“It’s also an emotional topic as thousands of Punjabi people live in the UK and this new service will connect families living in two different countries,” he added.

Speaking about the infrastructure development at Amritsar Airport, Scindia said that the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured the development of Amritsar Airport.

“Government has developed 13 parking aprons at an expense of Rs 50 crores, at a cost of Rs 100 crores, a parallel taxiway has also been developed to facilitate the movement of aircraft. A new terminal has also been developed integrated with an expense of Rs 250 crore,” he added.

On the connectivity front, the minister said that this is the third connectivity between Amritsar and England and there are six international flights that are operational from Amritsar.

“By 2014, Amritsar was connected to only 6 cities, in 9 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, it increased to 21 cities, a jump of 250 percent. Previously, the weekly traffic movement was 217 per week, which now has risen to 416 per week, an increase of 87 percent,” the minister said.

Scindia further said that under the RCS UDAN scheme, with a budget of Rs 145.35 crore, 20 routes have been operational in Punjab and 4 more routes are planned to start in the near future.

He also said that the government signed an open sky offer with Canada in which airline operators can operate unlimited flights between Indian cities and their Canadian counterparts.

The inauguration was attended by Som Parkash MoS, Ministry of Trade and Industry, SK Mishra Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation Malwinder Singh Jaggi Secretary of Civil Aviation Punjab and CEO-Air India Campbell Wilson.