Intra-state air service may soon take off in Uttar Pradesh

PROCESS ON Tenders for various routes floated, to be opened on Sept 22

If all goes well, intrastate air service would soon be a reality in Uttar Pradesh. Tenders for various routes have been floated and the last date of submitting bids is September 20. These tenders would be opened on September 22.

“Intra-state air transport will be launched soon after the bids open. The project has got approval of director-general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI),” said a senior official.

Twelve cities of UP would be connected with flights. The state government has decided to give a number of incentives, including reduced parking fee and other bonus facilities to the airlines, which have opted to operate on these routes.

Last year, intra-state air service did not take off in UP because air service provider North-East Shuttle failed to start the services.

If the service gets going, Lucknow would get air connectivity with cities like Varanasi, Jhansi, Kanpur, Agra, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Kushinagar and Sonebhadra. Besides, all these cities would be connected with each other.

“This would surely help the tourism sector, businessmen and the aviation industry,” said an official of the tourism department.

Elaborating on other incentives, he said, “Usually, 10 to 20-seater aircraft get adequate passengers but if that does not happen, they (airlines) will be given payment for 50% of their seats by the tourism department.”