Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Friday flagged off direct multiple flights connecting Surat to Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata, said a press release by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
In his inaugural address, Scindia said that with the commencement of these new routes, Surat which is already a business and entrepreneurship hub, will now be connected to 10 cities including one international city. To put this into perspective, he said that Surat was connected with only 2 cities prior to 2014, added the press release.
The government has sanctioned Rs 350 crores for the re-development of Surat airport, out of which Rs 163 crores is for the construction of a new terminal building. With this, the passenger holding capacity will increase from the current 17.5 lakh passengers to 26 lakh passengers, as per the press release.
In addition, new airport aprons will also be developed with an investment of Rs 72 crores. This new terminal is expected to be completed by mid-2023.
Highlighting the growth of air connectivity in Surat and Gujarat, the Minister also said that prior to 2014, there were only 36 weekly flights from Surat which as of today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has grown by 322 per cent to 152 flights per week.
At present, there are 10 airports in Gujarat and 2 new greenfield airports namely Dholera and Hirasar are in the pipeline with investments of Rs 1305 crores and Rs 1405 crores respectively.
The occasion was graced by Balwantsinh Rajput, Minister of Civil Aviation, Rural Development, Labour and Employment, Government of Gujarat, Shri Jagdish Vishkarma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Government of Gujarat and Shri C R Patil, MP, Gujarat. Shri. Asangba Chuba Ao, Joint Secretary, MOCA, and other officials from MoCA, AAI, Government of Gujarat, and Air Asia were also present.
( With inputs from ANI )
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