AAP minister questions why Punjab was excluded from the Open Skies pact

Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, noted that the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, among other things, provides for Open Skies Service Agreements on a reciprocal basis with nations having territory located outside a 5000 km radius of New Delhi.

As part of the open sky agreement, Canada consented to India’s demand for unrestricted direct connectivity. It allows Canadian Airlines to fly nonstop to six Indian airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata for NRI passengers looking for the best Canada to India flights.

He further added that Indian Airlines is granted limitless direct connection from any site in India (including Amritsar and Chandigarh) to Canada, namely, Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, and two points to be determined by India. On Monday, the Minister responded in the Rajya Sabha to a question on flights between India and Canada from Amritsar and Mohali airports posed by MP (Rajya Sabha).

Campaigners Assert Exclusion of Amritsar and Mohali in India-Canada Open Skies Policy as Illogical

Meanwhile, campaigners assert that excluding the addition of Amritsar and Mohali in the open skies policy is illogical since the majority of Canadians are Punjabis. The latest India-Canada agreement has excluded the city, despite substantial traffic from Punjab, particularly Amritsar. The agreement adds Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata as additional destinations for direct & last-minute flights from Canada.”It is crucial to note that Amritsar gets 35-40 million visitors yearly, and Punjab accounts for approximately 30% of foreign traffic at Delhi, all of whom pay reverence to the Golden Temple,” Gunbir Singh, President of the Dilbar Foundation, stated.

Previously, Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), a non-governmental organization (NGO), expressed concern about CM Bhagwant Mann’s directive to the state civil aviation department to approach the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to begin direct international flights from Mohali International Airport to destinations such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

How long will we continue to annoy passengers by making them schlep their luggage for hours to the capital’s completely packed airport? It is time to get to work.”

On Tuesday, Arora stated that he questioned the minister about excluding Amritsar and Chandigarh from the new accord reached between India and Canada to increase the number of flights. He questions to their exclusion. Arora expressed his dissatisfaction with the Minister’s response and criticized the Minister for being evasive in answering his question. According to Arora, there is a demand for flights between Punjab and Canada because Punjabis make up the majority of Indians living in Canada.