Ludhiana, May 15 -- After years of delays, Ludhiana's long-awaited Halwara civil terminal is finally set to receive its first commercial flight on Friday. According to the official schedule released on Thursday, an Air India Airbus A320 aircraft from Delhi will become the first commercial flight to land at the newly operational Halwara airport. "The flight will be accorded a traditional water cannon salute upon arrival, with fire tenders stationed on both sides spraying massive arcs of water over the plane as it taxis on the runway," the officials said. The ceremonial salute, a symbolic welcome in the aviation industry, is reserved for milestone occasions such as inaugural flights, retirement journeys of pilots, or the launch of new airport operations. The terminal, developed after the expansion of the Indian Air Force base at Halwara, has become operational nearly eight years after the project was approved by the Punjab cabinet in December 2018. Located 32km from Ludhiana city, the revamped facility features a 2,000-square-metre terminal and a runway capable of handling large aircraft like the Airbus A320-a stark contrast to the small, 19-seater aircraft that occasionally served the region under previous regional connectivity schemes. The terminal, built at a cost of about Rs.54 crore, was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February. Ludhiana has remained without regular commercial flight connectivity since operations at Sahnewal airport were discontinued in 2014 due to the shorter runway. Ahead of the launch, a credit war erupted between the Centre and the Punjab government, with Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and Punjab cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora making conflicting announcements regarding Air India's Delhi-Ludhiana flight schedule. On Thursday, an official release from Bittu's office said he would be among the passengers arriving from Delhi on the first flight. It is learnt that several Rajya Sabha members, who recently shifted from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Vikramjit Sahney, Rajinder Gupta and Ashok Mittal, are expected to be onboard. Several BJP leaders and supporters from Ludhiana have already travelled to Delhi to board the inaugural serviceand witness the ceremonial landing. There was no official confirmation till late Thursday evening on whether Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann or any senior AAP leader would attend the event. Meanwhile, Raikot MLA Hakam Singh Thekedar, in whose constituency the airport is located, welcomed the start of the operations....