First commercial passenger flight to UP's Bareilly airport from Delhi flagged off!
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New Delhi, Mar 8: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday flagged off the first commercial passenger flight to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh operated by an all-women crew was flagged off from the Delhi airport.
"The Bareilly airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the regional connectivity scheme - Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the government of India," the civil aviation ministry said in a statement.
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The all-woman crew operated Alliance Air's Delhi-Bareilly inaugural flight on International Women's Day, it said. Alliance Air will be deploying its ATR 72-600 aircraft, which can seat around 70 passengers, on the Delhi-Bareilly route, the statement said.
Till now, the Bareilly airport did not handle commercial flight operations and was exclusively an airbase of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The IAF handed over the land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) a couple of years back to construct infrastructure for commercial flight operations. Now the airport will handle both IAF and commercial operations.
Under the UDAN scheme, financial incentives from the Centre, state government, and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and under-served airports and keep airfares affordable.
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The Bareilly airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the Government of India. The flagging off marks the commencement of the 56th airport under the UDAN scheme and marks the successful operationalization of the 8th airport of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon, Agra, and Prayagraj.
Now people can fly at ease by opting for a flight of 60 mins from Delhi to Bareilly while earlier they were forced to opt for road travel of more than 6 hours or a train journey of more than 4 hours.
Trishul Military Airbase, Bareilly belongs to the Indian Air Force and the land was handed over to the Airport Authority of India for construction of the interim civil aviation operations. The Government of India sanctioned Rs. 88 crores under the UDAN scheme for the development of the interim civil aviation operations. The upgradation was undertaken by the AAI with a cost of Rs. 65 crores.
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Alliance Air was awarded the Delhi - Bareilly route under the UDAN-4 bidding process last year. The airline will be deploying its ATR 72 600 aircraft having a seating capacity of 70 seats on this route.
To date, 325 routes and 56 airports including 5 heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme. To keep the fares accessible for the common man, financial incentives in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is being provided under the UDAN scheme from the Centre, State governments and airport operators to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports under the scheme.
This aerial connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of the lakhs of people who visit Bareilly for the NathNagri (known for the four Shiva temples located in four corners of the region - DhopeshwarNath, MadniNath, AlakhaNath and TrivatiNath), Ala Hazrat, Shah Sharafat Miyan and Khankahe Niyazia, Zari nagari and historically important sites like as Sanjashya (where the Buddha descended from Tushita to earth).
The city is also a center for furniture manufacturing and cotton, cereal and sugar trading. This air connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of the people of Bareilly and the entire Uttar Pradesh state. Apart from enhancing the aerial connectivity of the region, the flight operations will provide additional benefits to the trade, tourism, and local economy.