Punjab, Kerala, others oppose Centre's draft Civil Aviation Policy

NEW DELHI: Punjab, Kerala and some other states today strongly opposed the government's draft Civil Aviation Policy that talks of creating only six international hubs in the country.

Opposing the Civil Aviation Ministry's proposal to limit international hubs to only six metros, Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said such a policy would work against the interests of different states.

"If implemented the policy will work against the interests of people of various regions as they will have to travel to other international hubs for onward journeys," he said.

Majithia urged Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju to allow airlines to choose different international airports from across the country as their hub instead of limiting the choice to six metro airports to ensure balanced regional economic development and called for making Amritsar as one of the hubs in Punjab.

He said keeping in view the religious importance and huge flow of pilgrims and tourists to Sri Harmandir Sahib, Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport at Amritsar be made international hub with a special focus on creating a cargo hub as it is the old silk route to explore the Middle East trade potential.

Punjab also urged the Centre to start international flights from Chandigarh soon.

Kerala government officials expressed hope that the draft policy is not implemented. Opposing the proposal, they said the international arrival and departure from three airports in the state -- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode --are higher than the Chennai airport.