First International Flight from Chandigarh Takes Off

September 15, 2016 (AirportChandigarh.com): The very first international flight from Chandigarh International Airport, Mohali took off at 6:15 pm after years of anxious waiting. At 5.15 pm, Air India's Boeing 737-800 made history as being the first international flight to land in Chandigarh from Sharjah carrying around 128 passengers. Red carpet was literally rolled out for passengers walking out of the airport. Thirty-two year old pilot Gurchetan Virdi who was to fly the plane, happens to be from Mohali also. Air India's Boeing that flew to Sharjah, UAE was filled to the capacity of around 182 seats.

A delegation of 40 trade members led by Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab also travelled in the first international flight to Sharjah to attend a trade meet in Dubai. More international flights are expected in near future to destinations like Singapore (possibly by March next year) and Bangkok. International flights to Dubai are scheduled to commence from September 26.

Various signboards in Mohali and hoardings in the airport put up by Punjab government mention the name of the airport as "Mohali International Airport". This raised an objection from Haryana's CM who wrote to Punjab's CM to remove "Mohali" as it was "misleading". Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju who was also present at the occassion of the Sharjah flight take off mentioned that naming the airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh (a name that was agreed upon by both Punjab and Haryana) was being considered.

mohali international airport sign