At the recently held celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Air India’s first flight between London and Bombay (Mumbai), Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP for Slough met various key members of Air India’s senior management, including their international Director for Operations Captain Arvind Kathpalia, who had flown into London especially from Delhi for this celebration.
Tan Dhesi spoke of the long-pending demand of the Punjabi diaspora for direct flights between London Heathrow and Amritsar, and the progress he has made in this regard. Mr Dhesi said “Captain Kathpalia confirmed to me that he had received all the required information, about the demanded Heathrow to Amritsar route, from his UK team in particular the new UK & Europe Regional Manager Debashis Golder. He assured me that he, in consultation with others in New Delhi, would soon be making the final decision on connecting the two major tourist hubs.”
The Member of Parliament for Slough had earlier hosted the UK Parliamentary launch of the campaign for direct flights between London and Amritsar, and gained the support of other Parliamentarians in Britain and India. Statistics show that in 2016, even with no direct connectivity, approximately 188,869 passengers (517 per day) travelled between Amritsar Airport and UK as transit passengers via other Indian and foreign airports.
Within picture are, from left to right: Anil Mathen (Air India Manager for Heathrow Airport), Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (MP for Slough), Captain Arvind Kathpalia (Air India Director for Operations, based in Delhi) and Debashis Golder (Regional Manager UK & Europe, Air India).
