In less than a decade of its inauguration, Bathinda airport has been left without a single passenger flight after Alliance Air discontinued its Bathinda-Delhi-Bathinda service from Thursday, leaving the lone aviation facility serving the region without any scheduled connectivity. The nearest functional airport with passenger flight is now at Halwara in Ludhiana district, about 115 km away.The last flight from Bathinda airport, located at Virk Kalan village, about 26 km from Bathinda on the Bathinda-Malout road, operated on October 6.The development comes days after the airport witnessed prolonged disruption in the Bathinda-Delhi-Bathinda service, with flights operating on only two days during a two-week period in September.The airport was inaugurated in December 2016 by then Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, along with then Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal. It was established adjacent to the Air Force Station at Bhisiana under the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme to facilitate socio-economic development in the region.Talking to The Tribune, Bathinda Airport Director Kaushal Kamboj said, “Everything is ready at the airport, but there is no flight operational now.”He said that Alliance Air, which was operating the Bathinda-Delhi service, had conveyed in writing that it was discontinuing the service. The airline had been operating one flight a day, five days a week, between Bathinda and Delhi. “The company has also stopped its services from some other airports,” Kamboj said.The local Alliance Air manager, Lakshman Bhardwaj, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts for his comment.The Bathinda-Delhi-Bathinda service was introduced under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) after the Covid-19 pandemic. The service was used by students, doctors, businesspersons, politicians, security personnel and other passengers.The latest development has forced passengers to depend on road and rail transport for travel to Delhi and beyond.The airport had already lost its connectivity to Hindon airport in Ghaziabad in September last year after FlyBig, which operated the service daily, was taken over by another company. Earlier, the Bathinda-Jammu flight, which operated five days a week, had been withdrawn in 2019.Local residents and businessmen expressed shock over the suspension of air connectivity.Gurcharan Singh, member of the Airport Advisory Committee, said, “The three-year agreement with the airline came to an end, thus the flight has been discontinued. Our committee’s chairperson, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, had been raising this issue in the Parliament and through letters as well. During the Parliament session in March this year, she had sought an assurance from the Civil Aviation Minister that the agreement would be extended, but nothing happened. The chartered flights will, however, continue to operate. The airport is functional for them.”