The Canadian company Dogwerx International Capital Corporation contacted Chandigarh International Airport with a proposal to initiate charter flights for two Canadian locations. The officials have also approved the suggestion put forward by the firm. Once the final decisions are made, the entire Punjabi Diaspora in Canada will feel a great sense of ease. This is because it will make their flights to Canada from Chandigarh considerably more attainable and suitable.
Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened Chandigarh International Airport in 2015, there are still no international flights from this location to Canada. However, there are now only two international flights from Chandigarh International Airport to Sharjah and Dubai. The proposal for the start of direct charter last minute flights from Chandigarh to Vancouver and Toronto have been made by the Canadian company.
The CEO of Chandigarh International Airport, Rakesh Ranjan Sahay, stated, “The Canada-based company has approached us to start charter flights for the two cities of Canada. We’ve given them the green light and are now awaiting the final approval. If the plan is implemented, the Punjabi Diaspora in Canada will feel significantly more comfortable. He mentioned that the flight will start as a seasonal service for the first three months on a 200-seater aircraft. However, after collecting feedback, there’s a possibility of increasing both the frequency and capacity of the voyage.
He also discussed flights to London, stating that a meeting had invited the British High Commission to discuss the possibility of flights to Birmingham or Heathrow airport. Even though these locations have flights to India, Chandigarh currently lacks those flights. A Chandigarh-based member of parliament named Kiron Kher has been pursuing the idea of beginning international flights to Canada and the United Kingdom.
The international airport in Chandigarh has only two international flights per week, to Dubai and Sharjah, six years after the Indian Prime Minister opened it on September 11, 2015. These have also been on hold quite a bit during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. While flights to Sharjah are only available twice a week, flights to Dubai operate seven times per week. There is a lot of passenger flow on flights to India from Canada, and the majority of passengers are primarily from Punjab.
Chandigarh International Airport advisory committee member Sanjeev Vashisht explained, “We are trying to get additional International flights from India, despite a pending lawsuit in the Punjab and Haryana high court. He stated that the international airport’s purpose is to promote trade, so it must provide connectivity to many different parts of the world, along with a sizable domestic network, to accomplish this.
An air cargo facility was established at the airport in November 2021; however, operations have not yet begun as they are awaiting certification from the Airport Authority of India.
