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Fly to Europe, in
Punjabi style
WSN Network
LUDHIANA: Air
Slovakia, owned by an expatriate family from Patiala, will fly
London, Italy and Spain from Chandigarh and Amritsar from next
month.
CEO Riqbal
`Rockey' Singh said while the inaugural flight to
Barcelona
in Spain and Brescia in Italy will take off from Rajasansi
International Airport, Amritsar, on September 14 and 15, flights
from
Chandigarh
to London
and Bergamo in Italy are set for a October-end launch.
The airline
proposes to "Indianise" the flights, which will serve Punjabi food
and greet passengers "Punjabi style", adds Sidhu.
Sidhu, who is
here on a personal visit, said that there was a growing demand for a
direct flight from Amritsar to Brescia as the Sikh population in
Italy had grown considerably in the past three years. "It takes over
18 hours for travellers from parts of Punjab boarding a plane for
Italy from Delhi.
From Amritsar,
it would take barely eight hours to get anywhere in
Europe,
saving time and money," he explains.
The Sidhu family
had bought the airline, with its headquarters in the Slovak capital
Bratislava, in 2006. They are natives of Nabha in Patiala.
Air Slovakia
already operates a weekly flight from
Amritsar
to
Bergamo
in Italy besides flying various other international routes.
The airline is
in talks for operating flights to Canada from Amritsar and
Chandigarh, said Sidhu. "We are in touch with authorities concerned
to meet bilateral requirements," he informed.
A 757 Boeing
aircraft seating 145 passengers will undertake the inaugural flight
from Amritsar to Brescia and Spain during midnight hours. The
flight, with a one-hour layover at
Bratislava,
will have a eight and nine-hour flying time for
Italy
and Barcelona, respectively. The airline will operate one flight a
week to start with and double the number of flights by early next
year.
5
August 2009
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