After nearly two weeks of restricted flight operations, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh, came back to life today with 18-hour operations in effect. From today, the airport will remain open from 5 am to 11 pm, allowing major domestic and international flights to resume.
According to airport authorities, 21 IndiGo flights and one Air India flight to Delhi are taking off from today. IndiGo, which operates the majority of flights from Chandigarh, has restored about 90 percent of its pre-repair schedule. The airline’s domestic network from Chandigarh now includes flights to Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa, Indore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Dharamshala, Pune and Srinagar. Online bookings for all these routes have been reopened.
On the international front, IndiGo’s flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai have also resumed. These flights are expected to boost connectivity for passengers traveling to the Gulf region, especially after several weeks of limited air services.
During the repair period from October 26 to November 6, the Airport was functioning between 5am and 12 noon, and closed for rest of the day for maintenance work. As a result, flight operations were restricted to a seven-hour window. The ongoing runway upgradation, being carried out by the Indian Air Force, will continue at night until November 18.
From today, the airport is functioning under an extended 18-hour schedule, enabling airlines to operate evening flights once again. “This phase will continue until November 18, after which normal 24-hour operations are expected to resume,” said a senior airport official.
Among the key updates, IndiGo’s Hyderabad flight — which previously landed around 11:40 pm — will now arrive earlier at 10:30 pm. The Chandigarh–Dharamshala flight, which had been suspended during the monsoon due to poor weather conditions in the hills, has also been restored from today.
The airport has also allowed night parking for aircraft. The Hyderabad-bound flight will now depart at 6:15 am, while aircraft arriving from Bengaluru and Mumbai late at night will remain parked overnight and take off the next morning.
In total, around 22 flights are operating from Chandigarh starting today, including three to Delhi and two each to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Goa. The resumption has brought much-needed relief to travellers and airlines alike, marking a significant step toward restoring full operations later this month.
