Sharjah flight from Chandigarh to resume on September 23
Bi-weekly flight to operate on Thursday and Sunday; IndiGo’s Dubai flight also expected to start in October second week
Suspended in March due to the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, the flight to Sharjah will resume from the Chandigarh International Airport on September 23.
Air India Express will operate the flight on Thursday and Sunday. The fare ranges between ₹14,000 and ₹17,000.
IndiGo’s Dubai flight, the only other international flight from the airport, is also likely to start in the second week of October.
The Sharjah flight will take off from there at 9am to reach Chandigarh at 2.20pm, and depart at 4.35pm the same day for a 6.30pm arrival in Sharjah.
Flights to Sharjah and Dubai in the UAE were launched in 2016 after the Chandigarh airport got the international tag. While the Sharjah flight was operating twice a week, the Dubai one flew on all days except Sunday.
The pandemic grounded these flights in March last year. Thereon, scheduled flights from Dubai remained cancelled, though arrivals continued to bring in stranded citizens.
In the case of Sharjah, flight operations resumed in December, but were discontinued once again due to the second wave in March this year.
Domestic flights to increase to 50
With the Union ministry of civil aviation on Saturday allowing Indian airlines to operate domestic flights at a maximum of 85% of their pre-Covid capacity, flights operating from the Chandigarh airport are set to increase soon.
“In August, airlines were allowed to operate 72.5% of their pre-Covid flights. As the capacity has been increased to 85%, flights at the Chandigarh airport are expected to increase from the current 38 to around 50. Their schedules will be readied soon,” said Ajay Bhardwaj, chief executive officer, Chandigarh International Airport Limited.
“Between July 5 and August 12, the cap stood at 65%, and at 50% from June 1 to July 5,” he added.
Get RT-PCR report in 30 minutes
With the introduction of an RT-PCR lab on the airport premises, from September 22 travellers will be able to get their Covid-19 test results in less than 30 minutes.
“Each test will cost ₹1,727. The facility will enable passengers to get tested as and when required. The lab has been set up in line with the guidelines issued by the UAE government, which include mandatory testing of all passengers, who need to present their report on arrival,” said Bhardwaj.