Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said the Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh has got the necessary clearances from aviation regulator DGCA to operate international flights from the facility.
The Union Cabinet had in June last year approved the Kushinagar airport’s status as an international facility, stating it will offer improved connectivity to the important Buddhist pilgrimage site.
Once this airport begins operating international flights, it will become third functional international facility in the State.
“Kushinagar to become 3rd licensed international airport of UP. Will boost tourism in the region and facilitate travel on Buddhist circuit by providing direct aviation connectivity to the city where Lord Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana,” Puri said in a tweet on Tuesday.
At present, two international airports — Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at Lucknow and Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Varanasi — are operational in the State while another one is coming up at Jewar in Gautambudh Nagar.
Kushinagar is the mid-point of the Buddhist circuit. It has pilgrimage sites in Lumbini, Shravasti, Kapilvastu nearby it. A little farther, it has sites in Sarnath and Gaya, the Government had said at the time of granting the international status to the airport.
The Central Government had also said around 200-300 devotees from Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar, among others, come to offer prayers at Kushinagar on any given day.
The announcement comes a day after the Yogi Government presented Rs 5.5 lakh crore budget for the coming financial year. Many development projects, including airport, were the special focus in UP Finance Minister Suresh Khanna’s outlay. He announced Rs 101 crore has been earmarked for an upcoming airport in Ayodhya that has been named Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram Airport.
Khanna said that the State Government was working on the mantra of making UP self-reliant and said a number of campaigns had been launched to establish the rule of law in the state. He also spoke about the industrial reforms that make setting up of industry easy in UP and improved connectivity in schools/colleges by development of digital villages to make the youth aware about education and employment scenario in the world.
The “Buddhist Circuit” is a key pilgrimage destination for 530 million practising Buddhists across the globe, the statement had noted.
