PM to inaugurate Halwara airport, flight ops yet to be announced

The Halwara international airport will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually on July 27. The announcement was made by Punjab Minister for Industries and Commerce Sanjeev Arora.

The business community and others are eager to know about the beginning of the flight operations, which is still unclear as the security vetting NOC must be granted first, the Indian Air Force (IAF) must finish the runway process and different airlines must continue with their testing.

One of the officials at the Halwara airport, who did not wish to be quoted, said no specific date of operation of flights was decided yet.

“The security vetting has been done and an NOC is awaited. Besides, the runway has to be completed by the IAF authorities and they will be able to comment on the same. Once these things are done, the airlines will start with testing flights. At the same time, it is certainly not too far to start the operations now,” the official said.

Even on social media platforms, the residents look interested in knowing about commencement date of flights and their routes ever since the announcement about its inauguration has been made by Sanjeev Arora on Friday.

After missing several deadlines, the airport will, at last, be functional soon, feel the residents. The operations at the Halwara airport are important as it was much awaited demand of the industry and others from this part of the region. The Rs 50-crore project took over three years for near completion and missed over 12 deadlines.

“The new Halwara airport will not only serve the purpose of the industrialists from Ludhiana but also cater to the entire state as well as neighbouring areas. It was due to the efforts made by Sanjeev Arora, the then MP, that the project finally would witness inauguration by the Prime Minister on July 27. Finishing touches are being given to the airport, before beginning the flight operations. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) will also issue the airport code,” said Rahul Ahuja, former chairman, CII.

Meanwhile, Minister Sanjeev Arora said the AAI, in collaboration with the district administration, has been finalising preparations for the inauguration. The terminal will be dedicated to the public on July 27, with Air India to announce flight commencement date thereafter.

Ludhiana