Amarinder for Chandigarh’s inclusion in open sky policy tribuneindia.com

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has sought Chandigarh’s inclusion among the Indian cities notified under India’s Open Sky Policy to enable operation of to and fro flights to ASEAN countries from here. In a semi-official letter to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, he said the International Civil Terminal at SAS Nagar (Mohali) has been functioning for the last three years and is set to be upgraded to Code 4E status from April one for launch of 24×7 operations of wide-bodied aircraft, an official statement said here. The airport caters to the travel needs of not only people from Chandigarh but also to international passengers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Uttrakhand, he said. The state government would take all possible steps to support the growth of civil aviation and to harness its benefit for overall growth of the region, the chief minister wrote. At present, the airport is unable to operate direct flights to international destinations in ASEAN countries, such as Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, he said.