Chandigarh-Kullu air link on, Nadda flags off first flight
SHIMLA The air link between Chandigarh and Kullu was established after Union minister JP Nadda and minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha flagged off the first flight from the Bhuntar airport on Thursday.
A 72-seater ATR aircraft of Alliance Air — a subsidiary of national carrier Air India — took off from Bhuntar airport in Kullu at 8:35 am with 24 passengers and returned from Chandigarh at 9:50 am.
The flight will operate seven days a week and passengers may take the connecting flight from Chandigarh to New Delhi. The flight time will be 45 minutes and a one-way ticket will cost approximately ₹4,500. It usually takes seven hours by road between Kullu and Chandigarh, which is around 270 kilometres. Manali, the famous tourist destination, is 45km from Bhuntar airport.
Shimla- Kullu-Chandigarh flight under the Union goverbnment’s ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’ (UDAN) scheme was also announced on the occasion.
Union health minister JP Nadda said Dharamsala, Shimla, Kullu and Chandigarh will be soon linked through helicopter services.
Later, while attending a pro- gramme organised by the statelevel bankers committee (SLBC) in Shimla, he said, “The Centre has allocated ₹3.96 lakh crore for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) scheme and nine crore people have been benefitted under it.”
THE FLIGHT WILL OPERATE SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND ONEWAY TICKET WILL COST ₹4,500
BOOST TO TOURISM
The direct daily flight from Chandigarh has elated the tourism industry of the region. The town welcomes tourists, including foreigners, every year. “Since the flight has been started from Kullu, more tourists will come to the valley,” said Kullu hotelier association president Gajender Thakur.
Himachal has three airports, namely, Shimla, Gagal in Kangra and Bhuntar in Kullu. Shimla is connected to Delhi under the UDAN scheme after Prime Minister launched it earlier in April.