No Kullu-UT flight from December 17

Our Correspondent

Kullu, December 13

Air India will not operate its regular flights between Kullu and Chandigarh from December 17 to January 15.

The airline had recently stopped ticket booking after December 15 and now the scheduled flight has been cancelled till January 15.

Sources said operations between Kullu and Chandigarh would not be carried out due to unfavourable weather conditions, however flights between Delhi and Kullu would continue as permitted by the weather.

Air India was carrying out daily operations between Kullu and Chandigarh, except on Sundays. The operations were being carried out using the same 70-seater ATR-72 aircraft that was operating between Kullu and Delhi. The operations were successful and the airline charged hefty fares for the 40-minute journey between Kullu and Chandigarh during the peak season.

During the inaugural flight to Chandigarh on October 5, 2017, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had stated that the Kullu-Chandigarh sector would be included in second version of UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme and the fares would be reduced further.

The 70-seater aircraft is allowed to ferry around 30 passengers while departing from Kullu due to load stipulation because of the short runway. The aircraft is allowed to bring in around 40 passengers while landing at the Kullu-Manali airport in Bhuntar.