Chandigarh International airport officials say direct flights from the UK might start within a year.
The upgradation of the runway has enabled Chandigarh International airport of handling wider aircrafts such as AirBus 330, AirBus 340, AirBus380, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787.
The upgradation has also improved visibility conditions for flights.
Aiport CEO Rakesh Dembla told Indian media that the airport has a minimum of 350 metres of landing visibility.
For Wide-body aircraft, 10,000 ft is the minimum runway length. However, Dembla said the runway length had been increased to 10,400 ft.
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“We are fully equipped to handle wide-body aircraft at the Chandigarh airport. We are holding meetings with international stakeholders, persuading them to allow wide-body aircrafts bringing flights from the UK and Canada.”
Dembla says the runway is equipped with two Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), CAT-I at one end and CAT-II at the other.
“CAT-I is capable of handling flights at 500 metres visibility whereas CAT-II is capable of handling aircraft landing at 350 metres visibility,” said Dembla.
He said the British High Commission has promised to discuss the proposal of a direct London-Chandigarh flight with the authorities, and the process would take around eight months.
“The direct flight will most likely be to the Heathrow airport in London or Birmingham airport,” Dembla added.
