Direct Flights from Amritsar to London likely soon

Amritsar, July 30 (Punjab Post Bureau) – The long pending demand of many NRIs and their relatives for a direct flight from Amritsar to London is likely to be fulfilled soon. Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India is considering resumption of Amritsar to Londonflights, this was assured by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha to the delegation of NGO Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) in a meeting along withUnion Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment and Member Parliament (Hoshiarpur) Vijay Sampla at New Delhi.Minister said that due to non-availability of slots for Air India at London Heathrow airport, the flight will operate to London Luton International Airport.

            According to AVM, the start of flights to London Lutonairport will connect Punjabis and NRIs settled in London and surrounding areas with Punjab. However, this will not enable one-stop connectivity of Amritsar with the west bound destinations in Europe, Canada and USA asLuton airport do not have connectivity to these countries. This will also revive export of perishables such as baby corn, snow peas, okra, other vegetables and fruits from Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to UK and Europe. In the absence of direct flight to London, exporters are compelled to export their produce from New Delhi.

It is hereby mentioned that British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi along with the two NGOs AVM and UK based SEVA Trust earlier in April this year, launched a campaign at an event in UK Parliament requesting Indian government for the start of direct flights between London Heathrow and Amritsar, a long pending demand of the British-Punjabi community.

In a press statement, General Secretary Manjit Singh Saini said that the delegation also requested Union Minister Sinha to add Amritsar in the bilateral air services agreements for Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Hong Kong etc. so that airlines from these countries can start flights to Amritsar Airport and the demand for extending the popular Amritsar-Nanded flight from 2 days to at least 4 days a week.  Union Minister said that currently they are not allowing airlines from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Turkey etc. to fly to any more airports in India as it helps them carry passengers from their country hub to Europe, Canada and USA. Government would like passengers to fly via Delhi and other metro airports of India. Delegationalso discussed matters related to existing infrastructure at the airport including upgradation of facilities, operation of all four aerobridges, expansion of terminal building, early completion of first floor work, apron for aircraft parking space.

Manch members along with MoS Vijay Sampla also met KJ Alphons, Minister of State for Tourism in the Parliament House, and demanded connectivity of Amritsar with all major tourist destinations in India. According to a new plan by Ministry to connect major tourist destinations in a pattern similar to UDAN (UdeDesh Ka Aam Nagrik), AVM requested inclusion of Amritsar in the plan and connect with Jaipur, Patna, Varanasi, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Goa etc.

Manch delegation comprising Manjit Singh Saini, Manmohan Singh, Yogesh Kamra, Amril Lal Manan, Hardip Singh and Daljit Singh thanked Minister of State, Vijay Sampla and social worker from Hoshiarpur, Sanjeev Talwar for arranging these meetings with the Union Minister.