Overview
- Air India’s A320 touched down at 7:05 am Friday, marking the start of operations at Ludhiana’s new Halwara civil terminal.
- Airport officials dropped a planned water cannon salute after the Indian Air Force withheld permission at the last minute.
- Air India will run two daily round trips on the Delhi–Halwara route, with departures from Delhi at 5:55 am and 12:55 pm and returns from Halwara at 7:55 am and 2:40 pm.
- The passenger list doubled as a BJP show of strength with Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and two ex-AAP Rajya Sabha MPs on board, while AAP minister Sanjeev Arora missed the event after his ED arrest.
- Built by the Punjab PWD by expanding an IAF base for about ₹54 crore, the 2,000-square-metre terminal opens as a domestic facility that enables single-ticket, through-checked connections via Delhi to cities in the UK and Europe.