Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that efforts would be made to increase air connectivity at Khajuraho. He said that days are not far when international flights will land at Khajuraho. The Chief Minister was dedicating the new terminal at Khajuraho airport on Saturday.
Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju, who presided over the function, said, “We need to increase the international a bit. Now, if that happens, next what step will be – once this thing falls in place – you need customs and immigration! Now, if customs start everywhere, what is happening in the country; when custom starts, the flight first start as a hopping flight.”
They hop from here to another place and then go out. When the load comes in, they come direct. So we hope the loads here will be developed. So everybody has to work together and we are doing that. We are working in that direction, he added.
In fact, aviation has shown a growth this year. And we hope to sustain it,” he added. The new terminal, constructed at a cost of `91 crore, is equipped with facilities of international standard. Made of glass and steel, the structure is equipped with state-of-the-art services and passenger facilities. They include, Inline X-Ray baggage inspection system, escalators, flight information display system, CCTV for surveillance and other facilities. Meanwhile, RK Srivastava spoke about the rapid growth of domestic passengers.
“last, we have registered a 20 per cent of passengers and if the traffic increased at this pace, it will chock the infrastructure. We have created an infrastructure of handling 250 million passengers and we are expecting to utilise it up to 220 million passengers. We have to double the infrastructure for the next 10 years and we are working in this direction,” he said. Better air connectivity at Khajuraho will bring in more domestic and foreign tourists to see its medieval age Hindu and Jain temple complexes which are recognised as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The Chief Minister said that Khajuraho is historic and international tourism city. He urged Union Civil Aviation Minister to increase air connectivity at Khajuraho. He said that the temples here represent a unique blend of art and science. He also urged for further expansion of the new terminal.
The Chief Minister had announced to open Food Craft Institute at Khajuraho on December 14, 2015. Within one and half months of his announcement, Chouhan laid foundation stone of the institute by pressing a button on remote control. He said that no stone will be left unturned for increasing employment opportunities through tourism at Khajuraho.
Tourism Development Corporation will impart training to under-educated youths. He said that tourist destinations like Panna tiger reserve and Orchha are near Khajuraho. Efforts will be made to develop other tourist destinations also.