Chandigarh, March 22 — Chandigarh MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari has called on the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana, along with the UT Administrator, to push the Ministry of Civil Aviation to designate Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali as a point of call (POC).
Tewari, who recently met Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, said the minister had assured him that the ministry would review the policy, considering similar demands from other state capitals. However, during a Lok Sabha session, the ministry rejected the request, citing its policy to promote India-registered carriers on international routes from non-metro airports.
Expressing disappointment, Tewari shared that in response to his unstarred question on March 20, the Ministry of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, categorically stated that Chandigarh airport would not be granted POC status.
“The answer explicitly says that Chandigarh airport will not be granted a POC status,” Tewari wrote in a letter to Naidu.
The Congress leader argued that the ministry’s stance contradicted its own criteria for POC designation, which considers airports with significant diaspora traffic.
“A large number of people from Punjab regularly travel to Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the UAE for work and tourism. This airport clearly fits the criteria,” he said.
Tewari also questioned why airports like Gorakhpur, Nagpur, and Bagdogra had been granted POC status despite having relatively low international traffic. “There are 31 POCs already designated, including places where I do not think there is substantive international traffic,” he remarked, quoting the ministry’s response.
He urged Punjab and Haryana’s Chief Ministers, along with the Punjab Governor, to jointly press the GOI to reconsider the decision, arguing that Chandigarh airport’s strategic location as the joint capital of two states makes it deserving of POC status.
