Brampton City Council passes resolution to start direct flights between Canada and Punjab
Ottawa: The Brampton City Council has been demanding the federal government to start direct flights from Pearson International Airport to Punjab.
Last month, the federal government in a new deal with India allowed select airlines to operate countless flights between Canada and India.
Under the earlier agreement, airlines could operate only 35 flights to each country per week.
Under this new deal, Canadian airlines have been given the green light to start countless flights to Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, while Indian airlines will be allowed to bring countless flights to Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver as well as two other locations.
But Brampton city council is also demanding direct flights from Canada to Punjab. The Council argues that starting direct flights between Canada and Punjab will have economic and social benefits.
A resolution in this regard was moved by Councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor and it was also said that if there is the largest population of Punjabis outside Punjab, then it is Brampton.
However, the agreement, updated in November, made no mention of direct flights to Punjab. But Toor said Delhi’s distance from Chandigarh International Airport in Punjab is 244 km. He said that this distance is a very difficult task for the elderly to complete.
Six months ago, Brampton MP Ruby Sahota had demanded direct flights from Pearson Airport to Indian states and now the demand for starting direct flights between Punjab and Canada has once again gained momentum.
It is pertinent to mention here that in order to bring back 30,000 Canadians stranded in India due to cancellation of flights during covid-19 lockdowns and dozens of flights cancelled from other states of India were started directly through Amritsar airport in Punjab.
