Uttarakhand ‘Flying’: First Intra-State Flight Flagged Off Between Dehradun And Pithoragarh

A flight between Dehradun and Pithoragarh has marked the opening of the first air service within the hill state of Uttarakhand. The air service from Dehradun to the Naini Saini airport in Pithoragarh was flagged off by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (8 October).

The nine- seater aircraft, belonging to the Heritage aviation company, took off from the Jolly Grant airport in state capital Dehradun with the flagging off being attended by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat, state assembly Speaker Premchand Agarwal and ministers including Prakash Pant, Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat and state BJP chief Ajay Bhatt.

The ministers were also the first passengers to fly to the Pithoragarh district which borders Tibet and Nepal. Union Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta also accompanied the state ministers in the first commercial flight. As per an official, flights from the Jolly Grant airport to Naini Saini would start from 24 October on a regular basis.

The fare for a one-way trip has been fixed at Rs 1,580 per person and would complete the distance in 45 minutes. Initially there would be one flight daily but with growth in demand the number of flights would be increased, said the official.