NO BATHINDA-DELHI ROUTE IN 1ST PHASE OF FLIGHT RESUMPTION

BATHINDA: Flights to Delhi from the city will not resume on May 25, as this is not on the list of routes granted clearance by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The last flight on the route operated on March 26.

“There is no confirmation when air connectivity of the Malwa region of Punjab with the national capital will commence,” Bathinda airport director Varinder Singh said. He added that once the flights that Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, operates resume, there will be a change in timing with the days remaining the same as Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The airport director added that connectivity on the Bathinda-Jammu route will continue to be suspended indefinitely. The route has been non-operational since October 27. An official added, “The average occupancy on the Jammu route was 70%, which was not a fair profit-making proposition. As a cost-cutting measure, it was proposed that a single 70-seater ATR-72 plane operating between Jammu and Delhi may make a brief layover at the Bathinda airport. It was planned to use a single aircraft to cover three destinations — Delhi, Bathinda and Jammu. This proposal was shelved last year and there is no reference to a flight to Jammu in the summer schedule.”