With the city becoming agog to fly, several airlines are connecting Chandigarh to new destinations. Airlines like Indian, Jet Airways, MDLR, Air Deccan and Jetlite operating here, others are eyeing the market share.
The Chandigarh airport at present handles about 3,000 flights and 1.5 lakh passengers every year. The airport’s non-tariff revenue has also gone up. Where two years ago it was Rs 30 lakh per year, it has crossed the Rs one crore mark this year. The airport is set for a major upgradation. A new building will be constructed to integrate national and international traffic and handle about 500 passengers per hour and 5 aircrafts at a time.
An International airport will be developed at Mohali over 300 acres, the land acquisition for which will begin soon. As per the Airport Controller, Suneel Dutt, new airlines have also evinced interest to operate from the city. “Kingfisher has approached us and soon we might be able to avail its services. Indus Airlines is also proposing to restart the Chandigarh-Mumbai flight shortly. The passenger traffic has picked up last year onwards. We are marketing the region properly and the traffic of chartered flights is also increasing. We are proposing the airlines to improve connectivity to destinations like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Goa , Bangalore etc,” said he.