International travel is set to become easier for passengers from Punjab and nearby states as the Central Government has launched Hub and Spoke international flight operations from Amritsar Airport and with this, Amritsar has become the second airport in India, after Varanasi, to be included in the new system.
The initiative was inaugurated on Tuesday by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The government said the new system will make international travel smoother by reducing the need for repeated check-in, baggage handling and immigration procedures.
Earlier, passengers travelling from Amritsar had direct international flight connectivity to only seven destinations. Many passengers travelling to other countries first had to fly to Delhi and complete the required airport formalities there before boarding their international flight.
Under the new Hub and Spoke model, passengers travelling from Amritsar can now connect to more than 20 international destinations through Delhi in a much simpler way.
The biggest change is that passengers can now complete their check-in, immigration and customs formalities at Amritsar Airport itself before boarding their domestic flight to Delhi and their baggage will also be checked through directly to their final international destination.
After reaching Delhi, passengers will not have to repeat immigration or customs procedures, as now they can simply move to their connecting international flight, making the overall journey faster and more convenient.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said this system will make international travel much easier for passengers and according to him, travellers will be able to access more than 20 international destinations with a single check-in and a single baggage tag.
The minister also shared passenger figures to explain the need for the new system. Every year, around 1.5 lakh passengers travel from Amritsar to Delhi to board international flights and at the same time, another 1.5 lakh passengers arrive from abroad at Delhi before travelling onwards to Amritsar.
The government believes that easier travel procedures will encourage more people to choose Amritsar as their starting point for international journeys, it also expects passenger traffic to increase in the coming years.
The Hub and Spoke model is designed to improve the travel experience by connecting smaller airports to a major international hub, and in this case, Delhi Airport will serve as the main hub, while Amritsar will function as an important spoke airport.
This means passengers beginning their journey from Amritsar can now use Delhi's large international flight network without having to go through multiple airport formalities again after reaching the capital.
The government said Delhi will continue to act as the international hub, while Amritsar is expected to become a major international gateway for Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh. According to the Civil Aviation Minister, Amritsar has a large catchment area and strong connections with the Indian diaspora living abroad, and the city also receives pilgrims, business travellers and tourists throughout the year, making it an important airport for international travel.
The launch in Amritsar comes after the successful introduction of the same system at Varanasi on June 25 and according to the Ministry, during the first month of operations, passengers from Varanasi were able to connect through Delhi to 18 international destinations without difficulty, showing that the model is working successfully.
Apart from improving the travel experience, the government believes the initiative will also support tourism, trade, investment and overall regional development. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said studies suggest that the development of aviation hub operations could create nearly 4 lakh direct and indirect jobs by 2030. It is also expected to add around 30 billion US dollars to India's economy during the same period.
Looking further ahead, the Ministry projects that by 2047, aviation hub operations could support nearly 1.6 crore direct and indirect jobs and contribute around 1.4 trillion US dollars to the country's economy.
