Air travel between Ludhiana and NCR to be cheaper than bus as airline to offer the ticket at Rs 999 for first three months: CM 

Ludhiana, September 6, 2023: Taking a leap forward towards providing excellent air connectivity from the state to the National Capital Region (NCR), the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday inaugurated the flight from Hindon-Ludhiana-Hindon thereby resuming air traffic from Ludhiana airport after a gap of more than two years and announced that for initial three months air travel fare from Ludhiana to NCR will be merely Rs 999.

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, MLAs Hardeep Singh Mundian, Manwinder Singh Giaspura and Gurpreet Bassi Gogi were also present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister announced that as an introductory bonanza offer the airline will offer the ticket for air travel at Rs 999 for the first three months of starting of the flight. He quipped that in this way one way air travel from Ludhiana to NCR will be merely Rs 999 that will be even cheaper than bus travel. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the sole motive of the move is to ensure that people of the state have access to safe, cheap and comfortable air travel. 

Describing it as a Red letter day, the Chief Minister said that due to strenuous efforts of the state government the flight from Ludhiana airport has started after more than two years thereby giving a huge relief to the people of industrial city. He said that this flight will be operated by M/s Big Charter Private Limited Company in the name Fly Big Airlines adding that initially the flight has been started for five days but it will be operationalised throughout the week from next month.  Bhagwant Singh Mann further said that the air travel time of this flight will be of 90 minutes to reach Hindon (Ghaziabad) from Ludhiana and vice-a-versa.

The Chief Minister announced that as an introductory bonanza offer the airline will offer the ticket for air travel at Rs 999 for the first three months of starting of the flight. He quipped that in this way one way air travel from Ludhiana to NCR will be merely Rs 999 that will be even cheaper than bus travel. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the sole motive of the move is to ensure that people of the state have access to safe, cheap and comfortable air travel. 

The Chief Minister said that it will help in easy movement of the entrepreneurs, traders and industrialists of the region and from other parts of the country to the state thereby boosting trade, commerce and economic activity in the region. He said that in the absence of direct flight to Delhi-NCR the people, especially the industrialists had to face a lot of problems while going to the national capital from Punjab via road. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this not only caused undue harassment to them but also resulted in huge wastage of time, money and energy. 

The Chief Minister envisioned that the starting of this flight will facilitate the people of the region besides wooing the leading entrepreneurs across the globe to make huge investments in the state. He expressed hope that it will act as a catalyst to propel Industrialization in the state besides showcasing Punjab as the most preferred investment destination. Recalling that Ludhiana airport is a very old airport operating since around 1965, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that maiden commercial flight operation had started from this airport in 1982 adding that previously commercial flight operations had started from this airport under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) on September 2, 2017 by M/s Alliance air and had operated till April 9, 2021.

However, the Chief Minister said that due to the apathetic attitude of the previous state governments the flights were discontinued from the airport but ever since assuming the charge of office his government has been making all out effort for resumption of flights from the airport. He said that now due to concerted efforts of the state government Big Charter Private Limited has been awarded a new route from Hindon-Ludhiana-Hindon under RCS scheme. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that today this airline has started commercial operation on this route with 19 seater twin otter aircraft, a short take off and landing utility transport aircraft that can be readily used for short runways.

The Chief Minister said that in order to provide cheap travel facilities to people the state government will bear the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) on all the 19 tickets. He said that all the 19 seats will be provided with VGF gap funding of Rs 11,829 per ticket for one side journey adding that state share will be 20% (i.e. Punjab government will pay Rs 2366 per seat). Bhagwant Singh Mann, while reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to provide better air connectivity to the people of state, said that the one sided basic Air fare by the airlines will be around Rs. 2000 per seat.

The Chief Minister said that apart from this more flights will be soon started from other airports in the state to facilitate the passengers. He said that Air terminal at Adampur is ready for operations and airline company SpiceJet will start a daily flight from Adampur to Nanded, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata and Banglore in the next two months. Likewise, Bhagwant Singh Mann said that Star Alliance Company will also start daily one flight From Adampur to Hindon adding that in the coming two months daily flights will be started from Bathinda to Delhi and Bathinda to Hindon airport by Alliance Air and Fly Big company respectively.

The Chief Minister also announced that flights will also start operating from Sahnewal Airport to Delhi Airport by Alliance Air Company in next two months under RCS- Udaan Scheme. He said that it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that Halwara Airport will become operational soon. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that this will further propel economic activity in the state thereby playing a key role in progress of the state and prosperity of its people.