Fly from Kota to Jaipur, 9 passengers at a time
TAKING WINGS CM says four more cities to get air connectivity in next phase
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje Friday inaugurated a direct commercial flight service between Kota, known as country’s coaching capital, and state capital Jaipur.
A nine-seater aircraft completed the inaugural run between the two cities.
“Possibilities beyond skies! After connecting Udaipur & Bikaner, flagged off Kota-Jaipur flight at #Kota airport today. #ConnectingRajasthan,” Raje later said in a tweet.
The CM said that the significance of connectivity to Kota has many facets.
“These flights will not just cater to tourists, but also students and parents travelling to the education capital,” she said.
Private firm Supreme Airlines will operate the nine-seater aircraft.
The flights from Kota Airport were discontinued in 1994-95 as passenger flow dried up following the industrial recession there.
The coaching classes were yet to take shape of an industry.
Raje said many people were apprehensive if the operations were possible given the relatively smaller size of the airport at Kota.
“So we had to do the impossible. We made the impossible possible,” she said.
Raje said Rajasthan now has inter-state air connectivity from Jaipur to Bikaner, Jodhpur and Udaipur.
“If we are lucky, then from the first week of September, we will be able to operate Jaipur-Kota flight to Delhi in September. We are trying,” she said.
Four more cities are also expected to get the air connectivity to the state capital in the next phase including Sawai Madhopur, Bhilwara, Ganganagar and Kishangarh, the chief minister said.
“With the growth of Kota into a coaching hub with more than 1.50 lakh students from all over the country and the city also being an industrial centre, a need was felt to restart the air service,” Kota parliamentarian Om Birla said.
State aviation department officials, there will be one flight from both the centres except on Sundays.
The tickets are priced at ₹2,600, officials said.