Poonawalla Family flies to Chandigarh as Serum Institute eyes global vaccine push

Poonawalla Family flew from Juhu Aerodrome to Chandigarh's Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport on 27 May, a 1-hour-59-minute trip in their Bombardier Global 6500 (VT-CDC). The flight landed at 11:42 UTC, placing the family in the northern city for the middle of the week.

Chandigarh is the site of back-to-back events that explain the stop: a Ministry of Health and Family Welfare review of India's vaccine diplomacy strategy (reported by The Hindu this week) and the World Health Organization's regional inter-ministerial meeting on pandemic preparedness, set for 28-30 May in the city. With Serum Institute of India supplying nearly half of all childhood vaccines globally, per the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the family's presence at both discussions ties directly to their business: unlocking production timelines and export clearances.

Poonawalla Family's home base remains Pune, where Serum Institute's sprawling campus sits next to their estate. The Chandigarh leg — a quick domestic hop, not a long-haul to Europe or Southeast Asia — suggests a sharp, policy-focused visit rather than a leisure stop. No recent flights in the same aircraft are on file, but the family's known pattern under Adar Poonawalla is to deploy the Global 6500 for government and board meetings in Delhi and Mumbai; Chandigarh is a less common but purposeful add-on, given the concurrent health-policy calendar there.