Chandigarh: Flights at the Chandigarh international airport can now operate for two hours more at night (till 10pm from previous 8pm). The move follows the Indian Air Force (IAF’s) decision to extended the air traffic control (ATC) watch hours by two hours on Monday. Till now, flights were allowed only for 12 hours at the airport — that operates 15 flights a day — from 8am to 8pm.
The new timings of 8am to 10pm will be followed from Monday to Friday with the airport reverting to the old timings on Saturday and Sunday. The airport had received approval for extension of watch hours in December 2015, but it will now be implemented officially. Chandigarh international airport CEO Sunil Dutt said, “Now, flights can land and take off till 10pm. The new timings may attract airlines to have late departures from Delhi, Mumbai etc.” The restricted operation hours had also played a part in delaying the start of international flights. Officials added that runway resurfacing will be completed by January 2017.