New Flight Connecting Bareilly With Mumbai Flagged Off

Opening up tremendous opportunities in tourism, education, trade and commerce, a new flight connecting Bareilly with Mumbai was flagged off by Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Describing the occasion, as “another momentous” day for the civil aviation sector of the country, Scindia said, “the commencement of the flight operations on the Bareilly-Mumbai route from 12 August and Bareilly-Bangalore route from 14 August 2021 will not only improve transportation facilities in the region but will also open immense opportunities in tourism, education, industry and trade and commerce for the region.”

The Bareilly airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the regional connectivity scheme — Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) of the government of India.

“Moreover, we are also increasing the frequency of daily operations between Delhi-Bareilly from 26 August 2021. These direct flights will not only benefit the people of Bareilly but also from the neighbouring regions such as Nainital and Ranikhet,” Scindia added.

On 8 March 2021, it became the 56th airport to commence operations under the UDAN scheme, with an all-women crew flight on the Delhi-Bareilly route. Now, Mumbai is the second city connected with Bareilly with direct flights and direct connectivity of the city to Bengaluru will be the third city.

Bareilly is the eighth airport of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon, Agra and Prayagraj. The Trishul Military Airbase, Bareilly, belongs to the Indian Air Force and the land was handed over to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for construction of the interim civil aviation operations. The upgradation was undertaken by the AAI at a cost of Rs 65 crore.

Lakhs of people visit Bareilly for the Nath Nagri (known for the four Shiva temples located in four corners of the region — Dhopeshwar Nath, Madni Nath, Alakh Nath and Trivati Nath), Ala Hazrat, Shah Sharafat Miyan and Khankahe Niyazia, Zari Nagari and historically important sites like Sanjashya (where the Buddha descended from Tushita to earth).

The city is also a centre for furniture manufacturing and cotton, cereal and sugar trading. Apart from enhancing the aerial connectivity of Bareilly with its neighbouring regions, the flight operations will boost trade, tourism, and local economy with direct connectivity with the trade capital of the country —Mumbai in Maharashtra and technology hub of the country — Bengaluru in Karnataka.

The operationalisation of this route aligns with the objectives of the Sab Uden Sab Juden initiative of the government of India that aims to strengthen the aerial connectivity of the Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities of the country with the metros.

Till date, 363 routes and 59 airports (including five heliports and two water aerodromes) have been operationalised under the UDAN scheme.

The number of domestic passengers is on the rise as flying emerges as a preferred, safe and time-saving mode of transport. On 11 August 2021, 198,495 passengers travelled on 1,798 flights. Total flight movement was 3,592 and total passenger movement was 395,143.