Why Chandigarh airport has just two international flights, HC asks Centre, Punjab

The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the central and Punjab governments to explain why the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport has just two flights, even as its new terminal was commissioned a decade back.
“There is also no explanation coming from the Chandigarh International Airport Authority Limited as to why there are only two international flights from Chandigarh (UT and capital of two prosperous states) on daily basis… It is unfortunate to note that even a district headquarter like Amritsar has more than 14 international flights to various countries,” observed the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Anil Kshetarpal when apprised by lawyers about the airport’s current status.
The bench directed the Union civil aviation secretary to file an affidavit, explaining why the number of international flights from Chandigarh had remained static and not been increased despite the airport becoming CAT-II ILS compliant more than 18 months ago.
“It is made clear that if the affidavits are not filed well before the date fixed, the secretary, ministry of civil aviation, Government of India, shall appear virtually before the court on the next date,” the bench said while deferring the hearing for November 6.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), pending since December 2015, when it was approached by the Mohali Industries Association, alleging lack of facilities at the airport. Since then, HC has been monitoring the progress of various projects at the airport.
Only two international flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi currently
Currently, the airport offers only two international flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
After the flight to Sharjah was discontinued in October 2023, the airport’s only international link was the IndiGo flight to Dubai, which operates seven days a week. Another daily flight to Abu Dhabi was launched in April this year. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated direct flight to London, initially slated for launch in October 2022, remains grounded.
Inaugurated on September 15, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the new terminal has been built at an estimated cost of ₹1,400 crore. In the beginning, there were only 40 odd flights that have now gone up to 90, including two to international destinations.
Two new domestic flights to Varanasi and Guwahati have been added in this winter’s schedule.
However, the Centre as well as Punjab have been facing flak from the public as well as the high court for not being able to start more international flights despite Chandigarh being a major regional aviation hub — with Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab as feeder areas.
The court also wondered that a major obstacle in starting long-haul flights to Europe and the United States of America was being cited as non-availability of instrument landing system (ILS), which allows the airport to operate in dense fog weather conditions. But this had been resolved by installing CAT-II (ILS) in March 2023, the court said while directing the Union civil aviation secretary to file an affidavit on why the number of international flights had still not been increased 18 months later.
The secretary has also been directed to explain the steps taken to increase the number of international flights from the airport.
‘Why shorter route still hanging fire?’
The court expressed its concern over delay in construction of an alternative route to the airport through three Mohali villages, namely Jagatpura, Kandala and Jhiurheri, for which a committee headed by additional solicitor general of India Satya Pal Jain was constituted.
The timeline for construction of the alternative route had been hanging fire and not submitted till date, the court lamented.
It took note of an affidavit from the Union defence ministry that it had no objection to the project provided certain conditions were met, as it was a defence airport also.
The court also asked the Union civil aviation secretary to apprise it whether there was any plan for extending the airport and if yes, then on which side of the airport.
The demand for shorter route had initially come from Haryana. Surveys were also done. Starting in Chandigarh’s Sector 48, it will reduce the current 11.5 km distance to around 3.5 km, bringing the travel time down from 25 minutes to 5 minutes. However, it has been facing opposition from Punjab, which is reportedly of the view that it is already in the process of constructing an alternative route at the cost of ₹125 crore, whereas the proposed road would cost ₹300 crore.