MoCA to rename Chandigarh airport as Shaheed Bhagat Singh airport

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has issued the notification renaming the Chandigarh International Airport as Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.

On September 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Chandigarh airport will be renamed after Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the freedom fighter.

The 115th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter was celebrated on September 28. On the same day, it was announced that the Chandigarh airport has been renamed after Bhagat Singh.

In a notification dated November 2, MoCA said, "it is notified that the Chandigarh International Airport in Chandigarh is named as 'Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh' with immediate effect".

An elaborate process is followed in naming and renaming of airports, and the final approval has to come from the Union Cabinet.

Generally, airports are known by the name of the city where they are located. In some cases, a specific name is proposed by the respective state government supported by a resolution passed in the state legislative assembly concerned.

The same is then sent to the Union Cabinet for the final approval.

With the good growth potential of the country's civil aviation sector, the government aims to have a total of 220 airports by 2030.

"Just before the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, an important decision has been taken as a tribute to him. It has been decided that the Chandigarh airport will now be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. It had been in waiting for a long time," Modi said on September 25.