Canada-Amritsar direct flight plan gets another push
AMRITSAR: : The long-pending demand for direct flights between Amritsar and Canada has got another boost with Punjab-origin Canadian MP Ruby Sahota taking up the matter in the Canadian parliament recently.
The FlyAmritsar Initiative, a global civil society advocacy campaign for connecting Amritsar airport to destinations around the world, has welcomed Sahota ‘s efforts, saying direct flights would immensely benefit the Punjabi diaspora. In a joint statement on Monday, Anantdeep Singh Dhillon, convener North America-Canada, Sameep Singh Gumtala (USA), global convener, and Mohit Dhanju, spokesperson-Canada of the FlyAmritsar Initiative, thanked Sahota for hosting a constructive meeting with senior executives from Air Canada and inviting initiative members to interact with the senior officials of the airline. “We are now more hopeful than ever that either Air Canada or Air India will launch these direct flights in the near future,” Dhillon said. This is for the first time the demand has been taken up strongly by the representatives from both Liberal and Conservative parties at a Federal level and also came up during the talks between Canadian minister of transport Omar Alghabra and civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on May 3 during the latter’s visit to Canada. MP Sahota, representing Brampton North, raised the issue in the Canadian parliament on May 9 and requested minister Alghabra for an update on government’s position about the flights issue.
Minister Alghabra acknowledged and replied saying that the issue has now also been taken up with the Indian civil aviation minister. The advocacy efforts for flights between Canada and Amritsar got further push this year with a parliamentary petition introduced in Canadian House of Commons by FlyAmritsar Spokesperson Dhanju that was sponsored by Conservative MP Brad Vis from Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon. “The petition received an overwhelming response from Punjabi diaspora in Canada with over 14,160 signatures received online and thousands other signing the paper petition within a short span of 30 days. Later, MP Vis also spoke in the Canadian parliament for government assistance in advocating for a direct flight to Amritsar,” said Gumtala.