Neos Airline launched a flight from Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport to Toronto on April 6. The Italian airline will be operating a one-stop flight connecting Amritsar with Toronto in Canada via its hub at Milan Malpensa Airport. While addressing a press conference, Neos Airline’s CEO Stradiotti said that the flight will be once a week flight, on every Thursday, and will include a short international stop at Milan in Italy.
The CEO added that the number of flights will be increased gradually and will depend on the response from the travellers upon the launch of the service. North America for Fly Amritsar Initiative convenor Anantdeep Singh Dhillon and Amritsar Vikas Manch president Harjap Singh Aujla contended that Neos Airline’s one-stop flight between Amritsar and Toronto via Milan would facilitate economic development of the city and the region. “It will not just benefit people, but also open new opportunities for farmers to export their products directly from Amritsar, instead of going through Delhi,” they said.
According to the flight schedule, Neos Airline’s flight No. 3249 will leave Amritsar every Thursday at 3:15 am in the morning and reach Milan Malpensa airport at 8:20 am (local time). After a transit time layover of about 4hr 10m, flight No. 4348 will then leave Milan at 12:30 pm reaching Toronto late afternoon at 3 pm.
In the return journey, Neos Airline’s flight No. 4349 will take off from Toronto Pearson airport every Thursday at 5:00 pm landing at Milan next day at 6:50 am on Friday. The flight will then leave Milan at 10:00 am and reach Amritsar the same day on Friday night at 9:15 pm. This essentially translates to a short transit time of 3 hr 10m through Milan.
The launch of Neos Airline’s one-stop flight from Amritsar to Toronto has sparked a new wave of excitement among local NGOs and the humongous Punjabi diaspora of Canada. Earlier, flying to Toronto from Punjab used to be very tedious as it involved more than one stop. Canada has one of the largest Indian diasporas – 80 percent of whom are from the state of Punjab.
According to reports, almost 1 million Punjabis live in Canada and comprise close to 3 percent of the country’s population. Therefore, the launch of a one-stop flight from Amritsar to Toronto is a very big deal.
(With inputs from agencies)