Air Connectivity to country’s metros from Aurangabad soon

Media Coverage | 16-02-2021

Akasa Air, FlyBig to operate flights

Dr Bhagwat Karad informs Vijay Darda

Aurangabad will soon get air connectivity to major metros of the country, which will accelerate the pace of overall development of Marathwada, said the Union minister of state for finance Dr Bhagwat Karad.

The chairman of editorial board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha Vijay Darda called on Dr Bhagwat Karad on Tuesday. On this occasion, Dr Karad gave information about various projects for the development of Aurangabad in particular and Marathwada region in general.

Darda pointed out that the absence of direct flights from Aurangabad to major cities across the country has hampered the development of the region and the people are facing serious problems due to that. Admitting the fact that there are difficulties in travelling from Aurangabad to other metros across the country, Dr Karad said there is good news that two airlines have now agreed to operate flights from Aurangabad to the metropolitan cities across the country. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme ‘Udan’, the Big Charter Private Limited’s FlyBig and well known entrepreneur Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Akasa Air have assured to operate flights from Aurangabad to major metros. This will ensure direct flights from Aurangabad to Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolhapur and Nanded.

Aurangabad to have base

A base will be set up at Aurangabad from where flights will be operated to other metros as Mumbai and Pune are crowded airports. Discussions are underway at the highest level to allot landing schedules at the destination airports. This will give a fillip to the development of not only Aurangabad but the entire Maharashtra, said Dr Karad. He has already met Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in this context, Dr Karad informed, adding, the air connectivity will change the face of Aurangabad and Marathwada region. More than 12 planes land daily at Shirdi in Maharashtra. With the launch of this air service, the number of air travellers in the area has increased. It has also boosted tourism. As Aurangabad too has many historical tourist destinations, the air connectivity will give a new dimension to the tourism sector, Dr Karad noted.

Connect Aurangabad with Buddhist heritage sites: Sunit Kothari

To ensure the flow of tourists visiting Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Banaras and Kushinagar to Aurangabad, there is a need to connect Aurangabad with these Buddhist heritage sites. This will also attract foreign tourists to Aurangabad, the chairman of the civil aviation committee of Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation Sunit Kothari suggested.

Kothari said efforts undertaken by the Central government to strengthen the air services from Aurangabad were definitely conducive to development, adding that efforts should be made to start flights from a tourism perspective as well and they should continue throughout the year. Many tourists who are Buddhists visit Aurangabad city. Therefore, he suggested, Aurangabad should be added to this heritage chain.

Work done by Rajendra Darda lauded

Senior Congress leader and former minister Rajendra Darda had given impetus to the development of Aurangabad airport. Due to his efforts, the Aurangabad airport was expanded, Dr Karad pointed out, appreciating the work done by Rajendra Darda.
Pointing out that the development of this airport is currently hampered, Vijay Darda said the new schemes will play an important role in fructifying the visionary development projects carried out by Rajendra Darda.

Top bankers’ meet in Aurangabad

A meeting of the chief general managers and other senior executives of public and private sector banks will be held on February 28 in Aurangabad to take stock of various schemes of the Central government, how people are benefiting and what are the difficulties in extending the benefits of the banking sector to the tribal and rural areas. Dr Karad has taken the initiative to organise this meeting which will be attended by the State chief secretary, finance secretary, officials of Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, CIDCO and chief general managers of 12 public sector banks and 22 private sector banks. The meeting will discuss what difficulties are being faced by the people in availing the benefits of Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Kisan Credit Card Yojana, Self Help Group Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti, Swanidhi Yojana and various other schemes being implemented under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat plan. The meeting will try to work out a solution, Dr Karad said, adding that a detailed discussion on these points will be held in the meeting.

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