Amit Shah Flags Off Srinagar-Sharjah Flight
Omar Says Pak Allowing Air Space Good; Mehbooba Says Nothing New In HM’s Inauguration
Srinagar, Oct 23: The inaugural flight from Srinagar to Sharjah was flagged off by Home Minister Amit Shah from International Airport here on Saturday evening. He was flanked by Governor Manoj Sinha and other dignitaries, officials said. Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia attended online from New Delhi. Amit Shah flagged off the flight virtually from the Raj Bhawan here.
The flight, operated by Go First (formerly known as GoAir), took off for Sharjah at 6.30 pm and is scheduled to land in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) around 9 pm.
The first international flight from the Srinagar airport to Dubai was started on February 14, 2009 by Air India Express. However the once-a-week service was discontinued due to a low demand.
Go First was the first airline to start direct international connection and direct international cargo operations from Srinagar.
It will operate four flights a week between Srinagar and Sharjah.
“The introduction of the direct flight to Sharjah will boost trade and tourism between Srinagar and the UAE,”the airline said in a statement.
It is offering a special ticket price of Rs 5,000 on the flight to Sharjah.
“The UAE and Srinagar are popular as holiday destinations and Go First flights will meet the demand for convenient travel options. The new services will also support the growing trade and investment links with both Srinagar and Sharjah,” the airline said.
Meanwhile former chief minister and vice-president of National Conference Omar Abdullah said it was good to see the refusal of airspace usage by Pakistan was a thing of the past. “Perhaps there is hope for relations between the two countries,” he said, nearly half an hour after his tweet in which he had questioned if Pakistan has allowed air space to be used.
“The Srinagar-Sharjah flight that has been announced today – has Pakistan had a change of heart & allowed flights originating from Srinagar to use its airspace? If not then this flight will die the way the Srinagar-Dubai flight died during UPA2,” he said.
Former Chief Minister and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti said that home minister inaugurating international flights from Srinagar and laying foundation of new medical colleges was nothing new.
“HM inaugurating international flights from Srinagar & laying foundation of new medical colleges isn’t new. Half a dozen medical colleges were sanctioned by UPA gov & are functional now. Post Article 370 abrogation & an engineered crisis, J&K has been thrown into chaos,” she said in a tweet.(GNS)
