Bathinda gets new airport, flight

Bathinda town in south-west Punjab on Sunday became the latest place in the country to get air connectivity with a new flight connecting it with New Delhi being started.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the newly built civil air terminal at Bathinda airport and the flight for Delhi-Bathinda-Delhi sector.

The first flight, operated by Air India Regional, landed at the airport on Sunday. The flight was welcomed with fire engines spraying water on it.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is the MP from Bathinda, were also present.

"The inauguration of this airport has brought Bathinda on the world map with fanfare. Industry in the area would get a gigantic boost with the commencement of flights from the airport," Sukhbir Badal said on the occasion.

Badal said that the Adampur airport had also been approved by the Union government and efforts were on to get the clearance for Ludhiana and Pathankot also.

He said that the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham flight has also been accorded sanction by the Union government which would provide a direct link from Amritsar to Britain.

Bathinda is about 230 km from Chandigarh.

--IANS

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