Flight operations to begin from Punjab's Halwara airport in first week of March, says minister

Chandigarh, Feb 4 (PTI) Domestic flight services will begin from the newly-inaugurated Halwara airport in Ludhiana in the first week of March, and Air India will operate its flight between Delhi and Halwara, Punjab Cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora said on Wednesday.

"I am regularly in touch with Air India. In the first week of March, flights will start from the Halwara airport," Arora told reporters here.

Industry and Commerce minister Arora further said that apart from Ludhiana, the new airport will also help the entire Malwa region, comprising Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot and Bathinda districts.

Airlines are positive about the availability of traffic from the Halwara airport, he further said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Jalandhar on Sunday, virtually inaugurated the terminal building at Halwara.

Developed at the Indian Air Force base in the Raikot subdivision, the civil aviation terminal is expected to significantly enhance air connectivity and boost industrial and economic growth in the region.

The airport's terminal building project is a Rs 54.67-crore joint venture between the Punjab government and the Airports Authority of India.

The operationalisation of Halwara airport is expected to enhance air connectivity in the region significantly, providing a boost to industrial activity, tourism, healthcare, and education, and thereby contributing to the overall socio-economic development of Punjab.

The air connectivity from Ludhiana has been one of the major demands of the city-based industrialists who either have to take flights from Delhi, Chandigarh or Amritsar. PTI CHS HVA