He said slashing of the taxes will directly benefit airlines, which would get cheaper fuel and may show more interest in operating from here.

Sidhu, who had taken up the matter with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said that various airlines had stopped operating from the local airport in the recent past.

The act (of reduction of VAT) would be an incentive to airlines and their interest will be regenerated,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister’s decision was a much desired gift to the “holy city”.

“The ATF constitutes one of the major portions of operating costs of any airline. The ATF is cheaper in Chandigarh and many airlines were diverting their operations (flights) to the union territory. Now they will prefer to start operating from here again and this will benefit the non-resident Indians (NRIs) and pilgrims, visiting the city of Golden Temple’’, he said. The cricketer-turned-politician added that the airport was emerging as an economic life line for Amritsar region.

“More and more airlines and cargo flights means more visitors and business, which would be good for tourism and other allied industries here. This one step would enhance the interest of the airlines. Also the crores of rupees spent on the upgradation and modernising of the local airport would also be put to the right use as we can see the airport was dying its own death’’, said Sidhu.

“It is a major inconvenience for NRIs from Punjab to take a flight and land in Delhi, which is already congested. Once this airport gets more flights they will save both time and money,’’ he said.

He also said that he was getting mails and information from the Diaspora in Canada, US and Europe as they were unhappy over the withdrawal of the flights.

Source: Indian Express, India,  dated 02/07/2011