Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has inaugurated a direct flight between Amritsar and Gatwick. The non-stop flight between Amritsar and Gatwick will be operated by Air India commencing from today, as per the following schedule:
| Flt No. | From | To | Freq. | Dep. Time (LT) | Arr. Time (LT) |
| AI169 | ATQ | LGW | Thrice a week | 1320 | 1755 |
| AI170 | LGW | ATQ | Thrice a week | 2010 | 0840+1 |
In his inaugural address, Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel,c said that this new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the development of the region. It is an emotional subject also as lakhs of people of Punjab live in the UK and this new direct flight service will connect families living in two different countries.
Speaking on the infrastructure development at Amritsar Airport, Shri Scindia said that the Union Government under the leadership of PM Modi has assured the development of Amritsar Airport. The government has developed 13 parking aprons with an expenditure of Rs 50 crores, at the cost of Rs 100 crores, a parallel taxi-track has also been developed for easy movement of aircraft. A new integrated terminal has also been developed with an expenditure of Rs. 250 crores.
On connectivity, the Minister said that this is the 3rd connectivity between Amritsar and England and there are six international flights which are operational from Amritsar. By 2014 Amritsar was connected to only 6 cities, in 9 years under the leadership of PM Modi, it has increased to 21 cities, a jump of 250 per cent. Earlier the weekly traffic movement was 217 per week which has now increased to 416 per week, an increase of 87 per cent. Under the RCS UDAN scheme, with a budget of Rs. 145.35 crore, 20 routes have been operational in Punjab and 4 more routes are planned to commence in the near future. The government has signed an open sky offer with Canada wherein airline operators can operate unlimited flights between Indian cities and their Canadian counterparts. He mentioned that, he is hopeful that the state of Punjab and its people will benefit from this agreement.
The inauguration was graced by Shri Som Parkash MoS, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Shri. S.K. Mishra Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation Shri Malwinder Singh Jaggi Secretary Civil Aviation, Govt. of Punjab and CEO-Air India Shri Campbell Wilson, was present.
