In a major bad news for air passengers travelling to or from Chandigarh, it has been revealed they will face difficulties from today onwards, as the state's International Airport has been shut from May 12 till May 31. There will be no flights operating during these days. It comes as a major issue, as the airport will be closed for more than three weeks starting from Saturday and that too during the summer holiday season rush. Now passengers will have to find another source of travelling to the region. Airlines will face issues as their operations will not be allowed during these time. The reason for shut down is because of second phase runway repair which will take place during this period. 

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A spokesman of the Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) said, "After the completion of the second phase of runway re-carpeting/repair work, the runway length will increase to 10,400 feet from earlier 7,200 feet. This upgradation would facilitate long haul flights from Chandigarh to destinations like USA, Canada, Europe, UK and other places". 

The spokesman added, "During this period, no flight will operate from Chandigarh. There will not be any further closure after May 31, 2018."

The 20-day closure would affect over 100,000 passengers, especially during the summer vacation season.

As this would be second phase, the first repair was carried  from February 12 to February 26. It needs to be noted that, the repair operation has been carried out before, as reports reveal that for past six months flights have remained suspended every Sunday in the state. 

International airports in many states have ordered shut downs due to repairs, but in Chandigarh the frequency is way higher.

Earlier, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai was closed for only two days for six hours on April 9 and April 10, due to repair and maintenance work, which the authorities plan to complete before monsoon season.

In just two days, it was revealed  that 120 flights were cancelled and many more rescheduled in Mumbai during those time.

Major airlines like Air India and Jet Airways faced heavy losses due to the Mumbai airport shutdown.