By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/KANPUR: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia inaugurated the IndiGoflight between Kanpur – Bengaluru here today. Flights between Kanpur and Mumbai & Hyderabad have also started today. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri Nand Gopal Gupta (Nandi), Minister of Civil Aviation, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Satish Mahana, Minister for Industrial Development, Members of Parliament Shri Satyadev Pachauri and Shri Devendra Singh Bholewere also present in the virtual event. The officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation, UP Government and Senior Indigo executives were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Scindia said thathis new route willnot only enhance connectivity to/from Kanpur but will also promote trade, commerce and tourism between thesecities. He said that Kanpur is not only an important industrial hub of the country, but also has historic and spiritual importance. It played pivotal role in the Indian freedom movement in 1857. Due to its textiles and leather industry, Kanpur was called Manchester of East. With the connectivity of the city with three major cities, the aircraft movement from there will jump from 20 to 41 per week, giving impetus to the industrial and business activities and also generating employment.As far as the infrastructure for aviation is concerned, the new terminal for the Kanpur city will be ready soon, within the stipulated time, at the cost of Rs 106 Crore.
The Minister said that the Prime Minister’s historic and farsighted approach led to the launch of Udaan scheme, which enabled the common citizen also to fly, and brought about democratization of the sector. He said that the airfares have dipped substantially, and airfares are now less than long-haul trains. Under the scheme, 100 new airports will be constructed, and 1000 new routes will start.
Shri Scindia said that the country had just 75 airports earlier but in the last 7 years, 62 more airports have been added. Regarding Uttar Pradesh, he said that there were 2 operational airports in the state but the number has now gone up to 9, covering 80 destinations. Soon the number of operational airports will jump to 15 in the state. There were only two international airports in Uttar Pradesh, and third one was added recently in Kushinagar, and soon two more at Ayodhya and Jewar will be coming up.
