Bathinda, Oct 8: Less than a decade after its inauguration, Bathinda Airport has been left completely devoid of commercial passenger operations following Alliance Air’s decision to suspend its Bathinda-Delhi-Bathinda flight service. The terminal, located at Virk Kalan village near the Bhisiana Air Force Station, operated its last flight on October 6 before commercial operations ceased.
The suspension leaves Bathinda as the only regional airport in the area without active passenger flights, forcing travelers to rely on Halwara Airport in Ludhiana district, roughly 115 km away, for air travel. The disruption follows weeks of irregular service during September, when flights ran on only two days over a fortnight.
Inaugurated in December 2016 under the Union government’s ‘UDAN’ Regional Connectivity Scheme by former Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, then Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the airport was intended to accelerate economic development across southwestern Punjab. However, the pullout of the sole operational airline leaves local business owners, students, and medical commuters without direct capital connectivity.
