Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday inaugurated SpiceJet's Gorakhpur-Varanasi flight via video conferencing and said that at present, there were nine functional airports in the state connecting 75 destinations across the country.
Speaking in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that nine airports were running in Uttar Pradesh and air connectivity had vastly improved in the last five years and the work of connecting other countries was also going on.
"At present, nine airports are functioning in the state. Four years ago, just four airports in the state were connected to mere 25 destinations. Now flights for 75 destinations across the country are available from the state," the chief minister said.
He thanked Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for the improved air connectivity and said, “It is the first time that connectivity between two important cities – the land of Baba Gorakhnath with the land of Baba Vishwanath – had been created via air route.”
Emphasising the importance of better air connectivity, the chief minister said that the increase in air connectivity would not only ease vehicular congestion, boost tourism but would also open up new employment opportunities for the youth in the state.
“The rapid expansion in air connectivity is a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment where he said that even the ones who wear Hawaii slippers will now travel in airplanes,” he said.
The air passengers of Uttar Pradesh will now get the facility of direct flight from five new air routes including Gorakhpur-Varanasi, Gorakhpur-Kanpur, Varanasi-Patna, Kushinagar-Kolkata and Varanasi-Jaipur.
Yogi Adityanath said that the state of Uttar Pradesh had immense potential and there were limitless possibilities for the region to turn into a leading place. “According to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the development of Uttar Pradesh will play a pivotal role in making India the world's largest economy. To ensure this, the air connectivity has been improved to a great extent,” he said.
On the occasion of the launch of the new air service, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Uttar Pradesh showed the way to the politics of the country. “The country is determined to follow UP and its decision to elect a government which works for the welfare of common man and uplift of every section of the society,” he said.
Scindia also congratulated Yogi Adityanath once again for taking charge as the chief minister and said that under his rule, Uttar Pradesh achieved new heights.
The Union minister said that under the summer schedule, Varanasi would now be connected with 15 cities from 11, while in Gorakhpur this number would increase from six cities to nine cities.
He further said that there were only four airports in UP, now, 18 airports including five international airports would be functional in the coming time.
Referring to the Gorakhpur airport, the Union civil aviation minister said that there would also be an extension of the Gorakhpur airport's terminal building to increase its capacity from 100 passengers to 300.