Tribune News Service
Hisar, September 3
The travel time between Hisar and Chandigarh has been cut short to just 45 minutes thanks to the launch of a maiden flight between the two cities on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated the flight after which a Spicejet seven-seater plane took off from Hisar at around 10.12 am.
On board were Khattar, Hisar MP Brijendra Singh, MLA Kamal Gupta, ADGP CID Anil Kumar Rao besides Spicejet and aviation officials.
The Chief Minister said that the shuttle service will have two flights daily which will depart at 8 am and 4 pm from Hisar. The flights will depart from Chandigarh at 5:30 pm and 9:30 pm. The air fare has been fixed at Rs 1,674 for a one way trip.
The CM said that the DGCA has approved flights from Hisar to Delhi, Dehradun and Jammu besides Chandigarh.
He said that after an environment clearance is obtained, an 18-seater plane will start services on these routes.
Khattar said Haryana became the first state in the country to take a special initiative for the enhancement of regional connectivity through fiscal support in accordance with the guidelines of the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik).
He said that a large flight training organisation has also been set up at Hisar airport by SpiceJet for the training of at least 100 cadet pilots per year. The domiciles of Haryana will have 10% reservation and 50% fee waiver on tuition for training.
The CM announced that the two meritorious girls from Haryana will get 100 % fee concession for the entire training. SpiceJet has also committed to ensuring absorption as well as placement of 70 per cent pilot trainees.
The Integrated Aviation Hub at Hisar is a mega project of the state government which is being executed under the Civil Aviation Department in a phased manner. Phase-I was completed in record time by constructing the first aerodrome of the state, which has been licenced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the terminal building at Hisar airport.
Overcoming initial hiccups, the state government took around four years and three months to fulfill the promise of air services from here. The Chief Minister on December 29, 2014 had promised to develop a full-fledged airport in the town.
Located along the National Highway 9, the airport is managed by the Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation (HICA) and has been providing flying and gliding training to youths.