Air India on Wednesday lands its 48-seater at Dharamsala airport as a regular Delhi-Dharamsala flight.
City Air News photo: Arvind Sharma
Dharamsala, May 15, 2013: Air India landed its 48-seater at Dharamsala airport as a regular Delhi-Dharamsala flight from Wednesday .
The passenger flight resumed here after more than nine months when Kingfisher Airlines stopped its flights to Himachal Pradesh,.
This also comes in the wake of Dharamsala getting two IPL matches on May 16 and 18. In fact Kings XI Punjab team travelled from Delhi in today’s inaugural flight .The flight carried back beside others, transport minister G S Bali too.
Bali said, “This is because of the continuous efforts of the state government, which is lead by Virbhadra Singh.”
State Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said Spice Jet is also keen to start its regular flight from Delhi to Dharamsala, the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. "Spice Jet is awaiting approval from the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation)," Sharma, who is also the MLA from Dharamsala, said.
V C Pharka, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, said: "This is good news for Himachal Pradesh as the state government has been persistently asking the Centre to help the state get air connectivity."
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had written twice to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh last month and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in regard to the matter. Veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar and MP Anurag Thakur, had also met Ajit Singh and demanded resumption of air connectivity.