Mar 28, 2011 - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani may be Chandigarh airport’s first international flight passenger. The airport is set to receive the Prime Minister per his plans to arrive on March 30 in order to watch the India-Pakistan cricket semifinal at Mohali.
A plan for direct landing at the Chandigarh airport was confirmed by sources, who also said that Sources the Pakistan prime minister’s aircraft would also be carrying and other VIPs.
The arrival of the Pakistan PM’s flight would mark the first international landing at the Chandigarh airport. Plans are for the flight to land at the technical airport, which part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) base next to the Chandigarh airport. The Chandigarh airport itself is under the IAF, which handles operations there, including air traffic control (ATC).
Currently, around 11 daily flights operate, providing domestic service only. Captain H S Toor, current Director of Chandigarh airport, said construction work of a new airport terminal would be completed in the near future. He said that the new terminal would enable international flights and that airport officials look forward to providing these additional flight services to passengers in the area.
Flight operations will be on hold for about half an hour while the VIP aircraft lands and takes off on March 30, according to sources. Airline officials have said that all flights to Chandigarh are full and that Wednesday is the first day with seats available.
VIPs told not to use Chandigarh Airport for Plane Parking:
The India-Pakistan semifinal is bringing several VIP’s in private planes to Chandigarh airport and there is some struggle over finding parking space.
G S Bawa , Airports Authority of India GM (PR), said that since Chandigarh airport’s domestic terminal does not have adequate parking space, the private plane operators have been asked to use the airport only for dropping and picking up their passengers. Afterward, the planes need to be flown elsewhere for parking.
Numerous high-ranking VIPs from political big shots (like Arun Jaitley) to Bollywood megastars (like Abhishek Bachchan) have been alerted that their private planes must drop passengers at Chandigarh airport and then fly to Sri Guru Ram Das International airport at Amritsar's Raja Sansi for parking.