Flight ops resume at city airport after week-long suspension

After a week-long suspension, flight operations at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport resumed on Wednesday, with a total of eight flights taking off and landing on the first day. These included one international and seven domestic flights.

The first international arrival was a Qatar Airways flight from Doha, which landed at 1.48 am in the early hours of May 14. The flight departed again at 3.35 am. Among domestic services, an Air India flight arrived from Delhi at 12.20 pm and departed back at 1 pm. Alliance Air operated a flight from Kullu, which returned at 9.08 am after arrival. Indigo’s flight from Delhi landed at 1.40 pm and took off again at 2.10 pm.

Further international connectivity is expected to resume soon. Malaysia Airlines will restart its services on May 18 while AirAsia flights are scheduled to resume on May 19. These airlines provide onward connections to Kuala Lumpur, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Manila, China, and other Southeast Asian destinations.

Flight operations at the Amritsar airport had been halted on May 7 due to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan. Initially imposed as a precautionary measure, the suspension was extended till May 15. However, following the announcement of a ceasefire on May 12, authorities declared the resumption of flights. Despite the announcement, a sudden blackout on the night of May 12 forced an Indigo flight en route from Delhi to return mid-air from Bathinda. No flights could operate from the airport the following day (May 13).

With the current restoration of services, airport authorities are hopeful of a return to normal operations in the coming days.

Amritsar