Have requested aviation secretary to call meeting to boost cargo ops at Amritsar airport: Puri

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said he has requested Aviation Secretary P S Kharola to call a meeting on the issue of boosting cargo flight operations at the Amritsar airport.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said he has requested Aviation Secretary P S Kharola to call a meeting on the issue of boosting cargo flight operations at the Amritsar airport. India follows a very liberal air cargo policy, the minister said on Twitter, adding that foreign and Indian carriers can operate scheduled international cargo flights from any point in India, including Amritsar and Chandigarh.

"However, there was insufficient cargo aggregation at the Amritsar Sahib airport. I have requested the Secretary @MoCA_GoI to call a meeting on this issue & provide all necessary assistance to the state," he said. In order to promote agricultural exports, the government launched Krishi Udan scheme in August under which landing and parking charges are waived by the AAI for each such cargo flight wherein agriculture product is more than 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.

Amritsar Sahib, Adampur, Bathinda, Pathankot, Chandigarh and Ludhiana airports are included in the Krishi Udan scheme, Puri said. Spicejet has undertaken 14 cargo flights on Delhi-Amritsar-Moscow route since April 2020, Puri said. India's decision to restrict foreign carriers' non-scheduled cargo flights to major cities in India was taken to provide a level playing to the Indian airlines at a time when COVID-19 has significantly affected the aviation sector, Puri had said on Twitter on Thursday.

Indian aviation regulator DGCA had on September 18 said that foreign carriers can operate their non-scheduled cargo flights to and from six Indian cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad -- only. Scheduled flights are those which get their schedule approved by the aviation regulator in advance for a period running into months. Non-scheduled flights are charter flights that are operated as per requirement.

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