Chandigarh's airport puzzle: Old terminal may fly again as shortcut plan crashes
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Chandigarh: Not getting its way on the shorter route to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, the Chandigarh administration is now eyeing a throwback solution — reopening the old airport terminal.
Attending the 'Northern Region Ministers Conference on Civil Aviation' in Dehradun on Friday, UT chief secretary Rajeev Verma formally proposed reviving the old terminal, which lies just 6 km from Sector 17, compared to the 21 km trek to Mohali's terminal. The move could dramatically cut travel time for city residents.
The administration also sought more international flights from the airport.
"It is the first time the administration has formally proposed reopening the old airport terminal.
It will sharply reduce the distance for the city residents to the airport," said a UT official. The old airport terminal was shut down for civil passengers after the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport (SBSIAC) Chandigarh, having a terminal in Mohali, became operational in 2015. The old terminal was a civil enclave within the Chandigarh Air Force Station.
"The demand for the operationalisation of the old Chandigarh airport has been consistently made by different sections of city residents.
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The demand increased after the plans for the alternative shorter route to the international airport didn't take off," said the official. Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari has also been demanding the operationalisation of the old Chandigarh airport. He raised the issue in Parliament in 2024.
In response to Tewari's question on the re-operationalisation of the old airport, on Dec 19, 2024, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said there was no proposal to make the old terminal operational for passenger movement.
The administration has been raising the demand for a shorter route to the new international airport for several years but with little success. The matter is also pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court. On the directions of the high court, a proposal for the shorter route to the new international airport was finalised, and even the land acquisition process was started by Chandigarh. But the proposed shorter route got a major setback when the Chandigarh International Airport Ltd (CHIAL) resolved that in the interest of the airport with respect to future growth for the next 30-40 years, the land in respect of the construction of the road from Chandigarh to the airport should be utilised for some other purpose which would be beneficial for the CHIAL as the proposal to construct an alternate route by the UT Administration would hinder future expansion/growth of the airport.
Notably, previously, CHIAL had agreed to the proposal of the Chandigarh Administration to grant permission to use CHIAL land for the construction of the road from Chandigarh to the airport. Punjab has also been reluctant in pursuing the shorter-route project.
The Chandigarh Administration had finalised a tentative proposal to provide an alternate route for SBSIAC Chandigarh from Purv Marg (Jn-63) having a total length of 3.5 km. The alternate route will reduce the travel distance from 11.6 km to 3.5 km (from the junction).
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