Centre launches 8 new routes to boost regional aerial connectivity from MP to Maha, Gujarat

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday launched eight new routes to bolster the aerial connectivity from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday virtually flagged off the eight new routes.

Speaking at the occasion, Scindia said, "I would like to congratulate the people of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat on the commencement of the new flight operations. Besides, additional flights between the Delhi-Jabalpur route will also commence from July 18 onwards, and Khajuraho-Delhi-Khajuraho flights from October 2021 onwards. We are committed to bolster regional air connectivity and take the Prime Minister's vision of Udega Deshka Aam Aadmi (UDAN) to greater heights."

Operations will be started in eight new routes including Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior, Gwalior-Pune-Gwalior, Jabalpur-Surat-Jabalpur, and Ahmedabad-Gwalior-Ahmedabad route.

Gwalior is one of the first airports of Madhya Pradesh to be connected with the UDAN route and further enhancements in the air traffic led to the advent of additional regional routes. Gwalior is now well connected with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Jammu as UDAN routes and Mumbai, Pune, and Ahmedabad as non-UDAN routes.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the commencement of these routes fulfils the objectives of enhancing the regional connectivity of the Tier-II and Tier-III cities with the metro cities of the country. With the flag-off, Jabalpur airport (Madhya Pradesh) is now connected with Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune as non-UDAN routes and with Bilaspur as UDAN route.

Earlier this month, under the UDAN scheme, flight services started to connect Kolkata to Imphal and Dibrugarh.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, 359 routes and 59 airports including five heliports and two water aerodromes have been operationalised under the UDAN scheme so far.

( With inputs from ANI )