New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri today flagged off the first flight from New Delhi for the recently upgraded Trishul military airbase of Bareilly airport in Uttar Pradesh.
Union Minister of State for Labor and Employment (Independent Charge) and Bareilly MP Santosh Gangwar made his presence felt on the occasion of International Women’s Day by flagging off the Delhi-Bareilly inaugural flight operated by women-only crew. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Rajiv Bansal, CMD, Air India, participated in the program in a virtual manner. Usha Padhi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation also participated in the program. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) also participated in the program in a virtual manner.
Bareilly Airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme of Government of India – Uda Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-Udaan). This flagged off marks the start of the 56th airport under the flight scheme and marks the successful operation of the eighth airport in Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon, Agra and Prayagraj. Now people can easily reach Bareilly through the option of a 60-minute flight from Delhi, whereas earlier they had to travel for more than four hours by train or by road for more than six hours.
Bareilly’s Trishul military airbase belongs to the Indian Air Force and the land was handed over to the Airports Authority of India for interim civil aviation operations. The Government of India approved Rs 88 crore under the UDAN scheme for interim civil aviation operations. Upgradation work was carried out by AAI with a cost of Rs 65 crores.
Alliance Air was granted the Delhi-Bareilly route last year under the Udaan-4 tender process. The airline will deploy its ATR-72 600 aircraft with a seating capacity of 70 seats on this route.
As of now, 325 routes and 56 airports including 5 heliports and water aerodromes have been made operational under the UDAN scheme. In order to make the air fares convenient for the common man, financial incentives are being provided to selected airlines in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the central, state governments and airport operators under the flight scheme, so that the scheme Under the airports, where very few flights are taken, operations can be encouraged.
This aerial connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of millions of people, who are noted for the four Shiva temples located in Nathanagri (the four corners of the region — Dhopeshwaranath, Madaninath, Alakhnath and Trivathinath), Ala Hazrat, Shah Sharafat Mian and Khankhe Niazia, Zari Nagri and Travel to Bareilly for historically important sites like Sanjashya (where Buddha descended from Tushita to Earth). The city is also the center for furniture manufacturing and trade in cotton, coarse grains and sugar. This aerial connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of the people of Bareilly and the entire Uttar Pradesh state. In addition to increasing the area’s air connectivity, flight operations will also provide additional benefits to trade, tourism and the local economy.