Demand to include tourism capital in UDAN Scheme; grant Point of Call status to airport

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) has submitted a memorandum to the union Minister for Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and requested or the inclusion of Aurangabad in ‘UDAN 5.3 Scheme’ and grant ‘Point of Call’ status to Chikalthana Airport (Aurangabad).

The chairman of ATDF’s Civil Aviation Committee, Sunit Kothari, underlined that Aurangabad is the tourism capital of Maharashtra, and hence its tourism potential should be explored across the states and country borders. The inclusion in the Udan Scheme will help to revive two old air routes: (a) Jaipur – Udaipur – Aurangabad & return (A more than three decade old operational route of the erstwhile Indian Airlines flight numbers IC – 491 & IC – 492 and IC-492, later by Air India, was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic) and (b) Aurangabad – Varanasi – Aurangabad (a route popular with inbound foreign tourist arrivals connecting Buddhist sites of Aurangabad with the Buddhist sites of Varanasi as well as for domestic pilgrim & tourist traffic between both cities).

‘Point of Call’ status

To encourage the arrival of international Buddhist tourist traffic to Aurangabad from neighbouring ASEAN countries like Thailand, Bhutan, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and trade and commerce traffic arriving from the Middle East such as Dubai, Sharjah, etc., it is mandatory that Aurangabad Airport be granted the status of a ‘Point of Call’. International flights to Haj are operated every year, and the airport’s terminal building has already been notified for immigration and customs.

ATDF stated that Air India Express and IndiGo, both airlines, are keen to operate flights to the Gulf and Far East from the Chikalthana Airport after granting status.