Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 26 (ANI): Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that soon steps will be taken to begin air services from Kanpur to Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the new terminal building of Kanpur Airport, the Union Minister said, "We have announced 59 new routes and 122 new routes will be announced in the future. We have the vision to connect Kanpur with Pantnagar, Aligarh, Moradabad, and Shravasti. There are currently 11 airports operating in the state, and 11 more airports will be started over the next three years. Uttar Pradesh will get 22 new airports altogether."Be it Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Saharanpur or Shravasti, airport facilities will be provided at all these places, Scinidia said.

At the beginning of his address, Scindia said that today a new sparkle is visible in the eyes of the people of Kanpur, and there are two reasons behind it. "The first reason is the recently concluded civic body elections in which UP's double-engine government has now transformed into a triple-engine government. The second reason is that the Kanpur airport's long-awaited expansion and modernization are now complete, a brand-new terminal is being officially opened to the public today."He added, "There are currently five international airports operational in Uttar Pradesh, and in the near future, Jewar and Ayodhya will also be complete. This series is still going, and Kanpur's airport has become a crucial part of it. It started as a small airport, and today it has been inaugurated as a 65,000-square-foot airport, which is 16 times larger.""The terminal, which previously handled just 3,000 passengers, will soon be able to handle 10 lakh passengers every year. This facility will not only benefit Kanpur but also impact 8 surrounding districts," he added.

Drawing a stark comparison between the present government and the previous governments, Scindia said, "In Kanpur, during the previous government in 2014, there were only four airplane arrivals per week. Whereas today, it has increased by 600 percent to 28 airplane arrivals. In Agra, there were only 10 airplane arrivals per week in 2014, but today, based on a growth rate of 240 per cent, it has increased to 34 airplane arrivals."Gorakhpur used to have 12 flights per week in 2013-14, which has increased by 800 per cent to 106 flights per week today. The same situation is being witnessed by Prayagraj, where there were 22 airplane arrivals per week in 2014, which has now increased by 600 percent to 154, Scindia added.

He went on to say, "If we look at the overall situation of Uttar Pradesh, in 2013-14, there were 652 airplane arrivals per week. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi, today there are 1,595 airplane arrivals, a growth of 145 percent. We have nine operational airports in Uttar Pradesh. A new airport will be built in Ayodhya in the next 1.5 years, and Jewar will compete with airports in important cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad as a result. In the coming time, around 6 crore people will depart from that airport", he added.

Praising Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the state is experiencing rapid development under his leadership. He mentioned that the Chief Minister had questioned him regarding the development of the airports in Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Agra, Meerut, Jhansi, and Aligarh. "Only someone who cares about the growth and advancement of the state can ask such a question. Yogi Adityanath is the person who has the ability to turn the aspirations of the people into reality", Scindia said. (ANI)