October 26, 2013 (Airportchandigarh.com): The Union Civil Aviation Ministry got everyone excited after giving permission to two Indian airlines for operating flights to international destinations just a few weeks ago. However, Indian Air Force is unable to provide permission to operate international flights at Chandigarh Airport.
Whether it is owing to poor fate or official issues, Chandigarh Airport is always denied permission when it comes to operating international flights. Since the airport is operated by Indian Air Force, without their approval, additional flights at the airport cannot be made operational.
According to the media, the reason given by IAF was due to their inability to offer extra staff and extended watch hours for the international flights. IAF is already too busy operating flights to Ladakh area carrying the troops and rations.
Once again, we will now have to look forward again to the international flights operations from the new international airport coming up in Mohali. Whether Ministry of Defence will be able to sort out the existing matter or not is currently unknown, however we will keep you updated as soon as we find out.