Chandigarh MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari on Friday said that the Chandigarh Airport has turned into ‘Point of Call’ (POC) for international airlines to facilitate international flights to and from here. He stressed the need for improving the passenger amenities at the airport besides increasing the ingress points for easy entry and exit of the passengers.

Tewari said this while chairing a meeting of the Airport Advisory Committee of the Shaheed E Azam Chandigarh International Airport. The meeting was co-chaired by Malwinder Singh Kang, MP Shri Anandpur Sahib.

The meeting was also attended by members, DC and SSP Mohali and other officials of the Chandigarh International Airport Limited and Indian Airforce.

In the meeting, it also demanded that free parking time for the vehicles should be increased from 10 to 12 minutes. The meeting also flagged the concern over the solid waste piling up on the approach the runway and demanded that it must be sensitized so that the bird hits are minimized.

It called upon the rural development department Chandigarh and the Municipal Corporation Mohali to ensure that the access to the runway is sensitized.

The Advisory Committee underlined the need for maintaining cleanliness at the airport at all costs. Besides, it called for sensitizing the airlines’ staff to be sensitive towards friendly behaviour with passengers.

Tewari laid special emphasis on operating the old terminal building of the airport. He said that Rs 45 crores were spent on its renovation between 2011 and 2014 and it has been lying in disuse. He suggested that this building should be turned into a full-fledged Terminal Number One of the airport as it can immensely benefit the passengers from Panchkula and Chandigarh.