Gwalior soars higher! Jyotiraditya Scindia boosts regional connectivity with new flights to 3 cities including Ayodhya

To bolster India’s regional connectivity, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has launched new flights linking Gwalior to three major cities, including Ayodhya.

With this, Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior is now connected with 6 cities viz Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Ayodhya including 33 weekly flight movements. The Union Civil Aviation Minister termed this development as a significant milestone in enhancing air connectivity across the country.

“This is a new beginning for all of us. This is the vision of the Prime Minister to highlight and enhance the economic and spiritual strengths of India through world-class connectivity,” Scindia said while virtually addressing a program on the occasion of the flight launch,” Scindia said.  While launching these Air India Express flights along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who joined the event virtually from Chitrakoot.

Gwalior Airport to get new Rs 500 cr terminal building 

While referring to the under-construction terminal building at the Gwalior airport, which is being made at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore, the civil aviation minister said it will be completed in a record time of 16 months, which will boost the air connectivity and economic growth of the region.

Notably, the terminal will be spread across 2 lakh square feet and help meet the futuristic demands of the region.

Talking about the development of the aviation sector in MP, Scindia said before 2014, the state had air connectivity with only 13 cities, but now the number has gone up to 31.

Besides, two international destinations namely Dubai and Sharjah were also connected from Madhya Pradesh after 2014, said the Rajya Sabha MP.

Similarly, Madhya Pradesh had only 540 aircraft movements per week before 2014, but now that number has gone up to more than 1,000, the Union minister asserted. 

Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa airport to cater ATR aircraft 

The union government is also building a new terminal at Jabalpur at a cost of more than Rs 425 crore and developing the Rewa airport so that ATR aircraft (designed for shorter regional flights) could land there. A new airport is coming up at Datia and a new airfield is being built in Satna, the minister said. 

It is noteworthy that the government has set up three new Flying Training Organisations (FTOs)  in Madhya Pradesh, including Asia’s first helicopter training institute in Khajuraho, taking the number of FTOs to 6 in the state.