As per Air Deccan schedule, the flight will operate from Monday to Saturday. Express Photo By Amit Mehra
Private carrier Air Deccan is all set to start its flight operations from Ludhiana’s Sahnewal Airport to Delhi. The same plane which will also fly to Shimla and Kullu under the UDAN (Udey Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme of the Central government.
On September 2, 2017, an Air India flight from Ludhiana to Delhi was revived after three years under UDAN scheme and is currently operating four days a week from Sahnewal Airport. According to Air Deccan’s flight schedule posted on its website, the services is proposed to start from May 21. However, the airport authorities at Sahnewal said that dates and timings are yet to get approval from the slotting team of Airport Authority of India (AAI) in Delhi.
As per the schedule released by Air Deccan, the flight will start from Delhi at 5.10 am and reach Ludhiana at 6.40 am. Then it will fly for Shimla at 7 am and land at 7.35 am. Then it will then fly from Shimla to Ludhiana at 8.05 and arrive at 8.40 am. It will later fly for Kullu from Sahnewal at 9 am and arrive there at 9.45 am. The flight will leave from Kullu at 10.15 am and land at Sahnewal at 11 am. Finally, the plane will leave for Delhi from Sahnewal at 11.20 am and arrive at Delhi airport at 12.50 pm.
However, according to AN Sharma, director, Sahnewal airport, the timings might undergo a change and the flight from Delhi to Ludhiana may land at 8.40 am instead of 6.40 am. He also said that they are waiting for an approval from the slot allocation team of AAI from Delhi. “Air Deccan has given a tentative date of May 21 but some change is expected in timings. Also, we need one week’s time in advance to prepare the airport for handling the second flight. As soon as we get approval from AAI, flight operations will start and it is expected this month itself,” he said.
As per Air Deccan schedule, the flight will operate from Monday to Saturday. Currently, just one Air India flight operates from Sahnewal Airport to Delhi and vice versa. Air Deccan is expected to fly its nineteen seater plane on this route and as per UDAN guidelines, ten seats will be subsidized for up to Rs 2,500. Price of rest of nine seats might go up to Rs 3,500.