Dearth of passenger bookings leaves Chd airport flightless
Chandigarh: For the second consecutive day, Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport remained eerily silent with not a single flight taking off or landing on Tuesday. The absence of air traffic has been attributed to poor passenger turnout, leading airlines to cancel scheduled services.Flight operators, including
IndiGo
and
Air India
, had initially announced limited flight operations following the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) decision to reopen airspace after the recent Indo-Pak tensions.
However, the low passenger load forced airlines to cancel flights at the last minute.IndiGo, which had scheduled four flights to and from key destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Leh, pulled back on operations due to inadequate bookings.
Similarly, Air India, which had proposed two flights for the day, also opted out."The announced flights were cancelled by the airline operators due to operational reasons," confirmed Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) CEO Ajay Kumar. "We believe flight operations will normalise from May 15, as operators have resumed accepting bookings for flights post-5.45 am on that day. We advise passengers to make bookings accordingly."The disruptions are a direct fallout of the tense situation along the Indo-Pak border, which had prompted the temporary closure of 32 airports, including seven in North India. Following the announcement of a ceasefire and de-escalation of hostilities, AAI issued a notification on May 12 declaring the airports — including Chandigarh, Amritsar, Shimla, Ludhiana, Jammu, Srinagar, and Leh — fully operational.Despite this, Tuesday saw a total standstill in Chandigarh. Booking portals for major airlines now indicate availability from May 15 onward, but passenger interest remains low for May 14.Airport officials and airlines remain hopeful that services will resume smoothly once normalcy is restored and passenger confidence rebounds. Until then, Chandigarh continues to face the impact of regional instability and shifting travel patterns.
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