Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said the state has emerged as a new identity of the flourishing aviation sector in the country with three international airports currently operational in the state.
"Uttar Pradesh has three international airports, 17 airstrips while eight airstrips are under the Indian Air Force.
"Civil works done by the state government in Shravasti, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, and Aligarh have been completed and the progress is commendable," the Chief Minister said while reviewing the works of the Civil Aviation Department on Tuesday.
He said that the survey of Gorakhpur airport has been completed in July and construction work will start as soon as possible.
According to an official statement, in the year 2016-2017, the freight transportation in the state was 5,895 metric tonnes, which increased to 20,813 metric tonnes in 2022-2023, registering a four times increase in freight traffic in the last six years.
Adityanath said in the year 2016-2017, the air traffic in the state was 46,585 but by 2022-2023, this number has increased to 82,615.
Along with air flights, the number of passengers has also increased significantly from 59.97 lakh in the year 2016-2017, to 96.02 lakh in 2022-2023, he said.
The Chief Minister said that before the Kumbh Mela, the capacity of Prayagraj Airport should be expanded with civil/public facilities along with an increase in the lounge capacity of Prayagraj Airport from 300 to 500 passengers.
Apart from this, he directed to increase the facility of helicopters in the state.
"Arrangements for RRTS (regional rapid transit system) or Light Metro should be made to improve the connectivity of Jewar Airport," he said.