Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of civil aviation, officially inaugurated the direct flight route between Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, and Jabalpur, a city in Madhya Pradesh. Spicejet will operate daily flights on the route using the Q400, a 78-seat turboprop aircraft built for shorter flights. SpiceJet is introducing 26 more domestic flight routes in addition to this one. It is to be noted that the airline has been expanding its domestic flight network by connecting multiple cities through its flight services.
Speaking on the occasion, Scindia said that there has been a massive expansion in the air services in the country in the last one year, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, where there were 554 aircraft movements per week in July 2021, and the figure has now gone up to 980.
Providing details, he said that Jabalpur is now connected to 10 cities, and aircraft movement has gone up to 182.
Similarly, Gwalior was connected to 4 cities in July 2021 with 56 aircraft movement, and the figure has gone up to 100. Indore, with 308 aircraft movement, has leaped to 468 and is now connected with 20 cities.
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The state capital Bhopal, which had air links with 5 cities in July 2021, is now connected with 13 cities and has 226 aircraft movements. Khajuraho airport is also connected with Delhi, having four flights per week.
The Minister said that Jabalpur airport was established in 1930 and was used in the second world war. Now, the airport is being expanded, with runway length going up from 1,988 metre to 2,750 metre.
Terminal building capacity is being expanded from 200 passengers in peak hours to 250, and its area will go up from 2,600 sq mt to 10,713 sq mt. Also, 3 aero bridges are being built, and a new ATC tower and fire station are being built. He assured that the expansion work, being undertaken at the cost of Rs 412 crore, will be completed by March next year.
With inputs from IANS
