By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, AUG 06, 2022: MINISTER of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V.K Singh inaugurated the direct flight between Lucknow and Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Goa by Air Asia yesterday.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath was the guest of honor present at Lucknow Airport. The inauguration was also graced by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary MoCA, Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Durga Shankar Mishra, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, S.P Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary to CM, Govt of Uttar Pradesh, Sunil Bhaskaran, Air Asia CEO & MD and other dignitaries from MoCA, Govt of Uttar Pradesh and Air Asia.

Speaking at the launch of new flight routes, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said, "It is a historic event that an airline has connected a city with 8 connecting flights to 5 cities in India. I would like to congratulate and thank Air Asiaand Government of Uttar Pradesh for this achievement. Lucknow is now connected to Delhi with 3 flights, Bengaluru with 2 flights, Mumbai with 1 flight, Kolkata with 1 flight and Goa with 1 flight in a day."

The flight between Lucknow and Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa will commence effectively from today and between Lucknow and Mumbai&Kolkata from 01st September 2022.

Commenting on the work done by his ministry for promoting civil aviation in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Minister said, "It gives me immense pleasure to state that under UDAN scheme, we have allotted 63 new routes to the state of Uttar Pradesh and in future we will increase it to 108 so that civil aviation can reach every corner of Uttar Pradesh. We have also marked 18 airports in Uttar Pradesh under UDAN scheme which will required an investment of INR 1,121 crore for infrastructure development. Uttar Pradesh will have 5 international airports which itself is a landmark in the country. It is a dream of Hon'ble Prime Minister to make Uttar Pradesh a shining example of Atmanirbhar Bharat and to achieve this, we are constructing airports at Chitrakoot, Muradabad, Aligarh, Azamgarh and Shravasti apart from Jewar and Ayodhya."

Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Gen) Dr V.K Singh (Retd) said, "I would like to congratulate Air Asia for starting new flight routes for Lucknow. Also, I would like to congratulate Hon'ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath for reducing VAT on ATF which would increase air connectivity in the state."

Air Asia (India) Private Limited is a subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited and commenced its operations in India on 12th June 2014 and flies over 50 direct and 100 connecting routes across India at 18 destinations.

These new connections will further strengthen connectivity between Lucknow and key cities in the country will facilitate enhanced connectivity and promote tourism, trade, and commerce in the region. It will also offer affordable, on-time, safe and hassle-free travel experience to people residing in Lucknow.