After a gap of four months, the lone Chandigarh-Dubai flight has resumed daily operations from Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport Chandigarh this week.
Passengers can now board the direct flight departing from the Dubai International Airport at 10.10 am and landing at the Chandigarh airport at 3.45 pm, a journey of four hours and five minutes (time difference factored in). The flight departs from the Chandigarh airport at 5.10 pm (IST) and reaches Dubai at 7.40 pm.
While the one way economy ticket for the Chandigarh-Dubai flight before the Iran war was around Rs 13,500, it has now increased to around Rs 19,000. The one-way economy class ticket price from Dubai to Chandigarh is Rs 24,000, almost double the price prevailing earlier.
The airline has also started taking bookings for Abu Dhabi as the service is set to resume on June 26. The flight will depart from Chandigarh at 5.20 pm and reach Abu Dhabi at 7.40 pm. The fare for the four-hour journey is around Rs 19,000.
“Given the tense geopolitical situation, it is not certain how long the flight operations will continue,” officials said.
International flight operations had been halted at the Chandigarh airport since March 1 due to temporary closure of the UAE airspace restrictions amidst escalation in Iran-Israel conflict. All flights to the Middle East remained erratic since then with escalation in airfares due to a massive spike in aviation turbine fuel costs and severe flight rerouting.
Connectivity on domestic routes has been enhanced with two more flights — one each to Pune and Bengaluru — added to summer schedule from June 1.
Flight cancelled
Meanwhile, bad weather at night forced the cancellation of a Jaipur-Chandigarh flight (6E7413). The flight was scheduled to depart from Jaipur at 9.25 pm and arrive here at 10.50 pm. Departures to Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi, and arrivals from Lucknow, Goa and Delhi were delayed in the evening.
