Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has said that there was a huge potential of air passengers in Jharkhand which could be increased up to four fold. Sinha was here to inaugurate a new Khadi outlet at Birsa Munda Airport on Tuesday.
later talking to media persons at the airport, Sinha said that the new flight for Kokata starting on Tuesday will be a great help for the passengers.
“Presently there are 10 lakh passengers travelling by air annually in Jharkhand, which could be increased up to 40 lakh,” said Sinha. The MoS also said that the new flight, Kolkata-Ranchi-Kolkata of Star Alliance of Air India, starting from Tuesday, will be quite helpful in reducing the load of passengers on the route.
“The passengers had been facing lots of problem after Jet Airways flight from Ranchi to Kolkata was discontinued from October 1, 2015,” said Sinha.
Sinha also added that connecting Ranchi with Bhubaneswar and Raipur was also being planned by the department along with Chennai and Bangalore. “There is less air services in Ranchi as compared to Raipur,” he said.
He further added that new airports will soon be started in Deoghar, Hazarihagh, Dumka and Dhanbad in order to bolster regional connectivity in the State with the initiative of the Civil Aviation Department.
The State Government recently signed a MoU with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry under the regional connectivity scheme, under which an hour-long flight up to 500km-600km will cost around ` 2,500. Under the scheme, cities such as Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Dumka, Deoghar, Daltonganj will be covered.
Sinha was also of the view that such Khadi outlets should be opened in each of the districts in Jharkhand and there should be one in Delhi also.
Talking about the problems being faced by the Airport Authority in the construction of parking due to a dispute with the defense personnel, the minister said that the problem has almost been resolved during a meeting held with the Defense Minister and the parking space will soon be constructed on the proposed land.