Shimla, Sept 25
Weather conditions permitting, the first flight from Delhi to Shimla should take off on Monday morning, informed a senior official of Alliance air. “The flight is scheduled for 0845hours on Monday morning, he stated.
If the flight lands at Jubbarhatti airport on Monday Sept 26 morning, then the services shall be resumed after a gap of two and half year. Alliance air spokesperson stated that on the auspicious day of the first Navratra the flight is all set to operate on Delhi to Shimla.
The ongoing monsoon conditions had earlier forced a delay in start of flights on this route. The flight operations were to resume from September 6 onwards, which got delayed owing to weather conditions and other reasons.
On August 24, this year, RD Dhiman, Chief Secretary of the state had informed flight operations between Delhi- Shimla will resume seven days a week, beginning from September 6.
Once after resuming, the flights on the said route are scheduled to run 7 days a week. Also, Shimla-Kullu-Shimla will run four days a week and between Dharamshala- Shimla three days a week.
Earlier too, Alliance Air’s Delhi-Shimla flight was started in 2017 but was stopped in 2020 as the airline’s lease for the smaller ATR 42 aircraft expired. Since then, the airport has only seen heli-taxi services or occasional chartered flights.
Pertinent to mention that Himachal has limited air and rail connectivity and as such the main mode of transport remains road.
While flights from the other two airports at Bhuntar in Kullu and Gaggal in Dharamsala have been running smoothly, the flights from Shimla have remained erratic. With a shorter runway it is not possible for bigger aircraft to land at Jubbarhatti airport, resulting in the air fare being exorbitant and the route being rendered uneconomical.
Therefore now the operating company has decided to run a ATR42-600 on this route. The company officials claim that a new aircarft for purpose has also been bought.
Table top Shimla Airport is considered among world’s most challanging runways which was established in 1987 and is built on 109 acres of land.
