Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
Amritsar, October 28 (Punjab Post Bureau) – In a major setback to the Punjabis, Jet/Etihad has once again left Sri Guru Ram Das Airport, Amritsar out of its 2017 list for expansion of its flights to Abu Dhabi that serves as a convenient hub for travel beyond to destinations in Europe, Middle East, Africa, North and South America. Jet and its partner Etihad Airways that holds 24% stake in Jet, has announced plans to further boost connectivity between India and the United Arab Emirates.
Amritsar Vikas Manch patron, Dr. Charanjit Singh Gumtala stated that Punjabis have been demanding the start of this direct flight for a long time. Start of this flight would have allowed passengers to avail themselves of multiple travel options through Abu Dhabi to destinations in Europe, North & South America, Africa, Middle East and South East Asia on Jet’s partner Etihad airways. Etihad flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto and other destination in USA and Canada that has high Punjabi population. In 2009, Jet airways had withdrawn its flight to London from Amritsar and continue to connect passengers to international passengers via Delhi. This not only add long layover times for passengers at Delhi and it also gives more business to the Delhi Airport that is run by a private company.
Data released by AAI shows that Dubai and Doha are recording the highest number of international passenger traffic from Amritsar in first half of 2016 with 113,839 and 54,038 passengers. Data shows that these flights are running at more than 90% load factor Air India Express and Spicejet are the two airlines operating direct flight to Dubai. These flights are successful despite the fact that passengers cannot fly to other destinations in the world as they do not have code share with any other airlines. Abu Dhabi is only 40 minutes from Dubai and a major hub for Jet/Etihad. Qatar airways, a competitor of Jet/Etihad is doing tremendous business with its flights from Amritsar to Doha and connecting passengers to all of its more than 140 destinations around the world.
Dr. Gumtala stated that the Jet Airways has announced starting of flights from Chandigarh in second half of 2017 subjected to appropriate regulatory approvals and completion of operational readiness at this airport. Amritsar Airport already has all the facilities available for international flights and currently there are seven airlines operating non-stop international flights. In the last 12 months, airport has recorded 27% MoM (month over month) growth on an average and it is expected to cross 1.5 million full year passengers posting higher annual growth rate. This is still very much below its full potential. Airport runway repair will be complete in March 2017 with CAT-3B system installation that allows flights to land with almost zero visibility in fog season.
In 2013, after Jet Airways deal with Etihad, it was reported in the media that Jet and Etihad airways has plans to connect 23 Indian cities to Abu Dhabi and Jet will fly from six more destinations to Abu Dhabi including Amritsar by end of 2014. All other cities, except Amritsar were connected in 2015 and now the company in an expansion has announced starting of flights to Chandigarh in the second half of 2017 subjected to appropriate regulatory approvals and completion of operational readiness at these airports.
