Bilateral hinders start of flights by top foreign airlines to Amritsar

Amritsar (Detan, USA), Mar. 6 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), an NGO working for the betterment of the city in general and increased air connectivity with other international destinations in particular, has appealed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of External affairs to allow carriers from France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and other countries to fly to Amritsar.

In response to the RTI by Sameep Singh Gumtala, Secretary Overseas Amritsar Vikas Manch Ministry of Civil Aviation has responded that Sri Guru Ram Das Jee (SGRDJ) International Airport Amritsar has not been designated as a point of call as on date for airlines based in major International transit hubs including Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Kuwait, and Tokyo. Hence International airline carriers like Lufthansa, KLM, Emirates, Etihad, Fly Dubai,Air Arabia, Oman Air, Turkish airlines, Cathay Pacific and other airlines are not permitted to fly to our holy city of Amritsar.

According to Emirates, Fly Dubai, Oman Air and other airlines, Amritsar is a very important and key market that they would like to serve.However, till the time Amritsar is not a designated point of call in the bilateral air services agreement, hence these carriers cannot fly here. Furthermore, Jet Airways which has commercial interline partnership with Etihad airlines and KLM does not operate a direct flight to Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam from Amritsar though it announced in 2013 to start direct flights to Abu Dhabi from Amritsar.

If Amritsar airport is designated as a point of call by Ministry of External affairs, then flights will not only take flyers to Dubai, Germany, Amsterdam, Muscat and Istanbul, but it would also connect them further to Europe, the US and Canada, which have a large Punjabi population, said Gumtala. Fly Dubai has given in writing to the Manch that they are willing to start flights. The response from passengers for direct Amritsar-Birmingham flight was remarkable and Punjabi diaspora has been demanding direct flights by big airline carriers like Emirates, Lufthansa for a long time.

Manch has written to the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju for having these air service agreements implemented for Amritsar airport. Manch has also sought intervention of Cabinet Minister for Food ProcessingHarsimrat Kaur Badal, Vijay Sampla, Minister of State, Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh, Punjab Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik, Lok Sabha member Gurjeet Singh Aujla and other MPs from Punjab.