Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced on Monday (11 Dec) that nine more airports would be constructed in Uttar Pradesh over the next two years.
This comes days after Scindia’s announcement regarding the opening of the Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram International Airport in Ayodhya, slated for December-end.
“We will construct nine more airports in the next two years in Uttar Pradesh,” said Scindia while replying to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha, adding that the total number would reach 18.
Till 2017, there were only two active airports in Varanasi and Lucknow, whereas presently, there are nine fully operational airports in the State. The operational airports handling commercial flights in UP are Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon (Ghaziabad), Agra, Prayagraj, Bareilly, and Kushinagar.
The Bareilly airport became the eighth airport in the state when it was inaugurated in March 2021. The airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the Central government’s regional connectivity scheme called UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).
This was followed by the inauguration of Kushinagar International Airport in eastern Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2021.
The State government is now preparing for 12 more airports, including two international airports. Among these, the Ayodhya Airport will become fully operational in December. Similarly, the runway and the air traffic control (ATC) tower of the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district are expected to be ready by March 2024.
Following the ground-breaking ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, the first phase of the Noida airport is expected to become operational before its scheduled deadline of 29 September 2024.