Air India reinstates Delhi-Amritsar flight for 3 days a week

Amritsar, July 12 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Air India has reinstated its early morning Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi flight for 3 days a week on Tues, Thurs, and Saturday instead of suspending it completely from July 12 till September 30. The reason given by Air India was the use of aircraft for serving Haj pilgrims.

Amritsar Vikas Manch Overseas Secretary and #FlyAmritsar campaign convener Sameep Singh Gumtala said that as soon as they found out about the unavailability of this flight on Air India website, they highlighted the matter in media. Seeing the need of thousands of travelers especially devotees who come to the holy city, they also promptly raised the issue in a letter and on social media by twitter to Minister of State, Govt. of India Vijay Sampla, BJP President and Rajya Sahib MP Shwait Malik, Amritsar Lok Sabha MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Ministry of Civil Aviation including its Secretary R N Choubey. Secretary Choubey visited Amritsar the same day as news was reported in media, was questioned by the media about the reason for cancellation. He assured full cooperation in reinstating the flight. 

Seeing the need of lacs of travelers that visit the holy city every day and seeing anguish among people regarding the decision, Air India decided to reinstate the flight for 3 days a week, still short of the regular 7 days a week. We welcome the decision by Air India management but this is still not enough as passengers holding the tickets for other 4 days in a week will need to be adjusted on later flights, wait longer hours or travel by road. For Haj pilgrimage, Air India could transport the aircraft from other sectors, said Gumtala.

Air India had also terminated morning Mumbai-Nagpur-Mumbai flight but after strong protest they will suspend it only for few days to make aircraft available. We request Air India to continue operating this flight for 7 days a week. By not operating it for all 7 days, is going to affect the Punjabi community settled in Europe, North American and other countries. Punjabis coming or going to domestic and international destinations from Amritsar will suffer a lot and face inconvenience.