New Delhi, Aug 11 : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Friday welcomed the Union government's decision to connect Bathinda and Ludhiana to Delhi through a 19-seat aircraft under the Udan Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). The SAD chief had raised this issue in Parliament through a question which was answered by the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Gen V.K. Singh (retd). The minister said the RCS route connecting Bathinda and Ludhiana to Hindon had been awarded to M/s Big Charters Private Ltd and that the company would operate a 19-seater aircraft. Flights on the Bathinda-Delhi-Bathinda route had been discontinued in March 2020 after completion of the prescribed three years of tenure and there was a huge demand from people, including businessmen and Central government employees, to restart this service. Badal also welcomed the Civil Aviation ministry's decision awarding routes connecting Adampur to Hindon, Nanded, Kolkata, Goa, and Bengaluru. He said this was also a long-standing demand after the routes connecting Adampur to Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur had been started in 2018 but discontinued after three years. Badal had in his question demanded resumption of all flights which had been discontinued from Adampur, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Bathinda airports, besides asking the Civil Aviation ministry to give timelines for it. He has also made a renewed plea for resumption of the Bathinda-Jammu flight also. He said the flight, which used to run five days a week, had an average occupancy of 70 per cent and was a boon for those paying pilgrimage to Vaishnoo Devi and Amarnath. /IANS