Launch of Daily Direct Flight Between Varanasi-Gorakhpur Under UDAN-RCS

• 28 Mar 2022

Why in News?

On March 27, 2022, in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the first direct Gorakhpur-Varanasi flight of SpiceJet under RCS-UDAN 4.1 was inaugurated through video conferencing.

Key Points

• SpiceJet airline will operate daily flights. SpiceJet is India's largest regional aircraft carrier. It operates 63 daily flights connecting 14 UDAN destinations in different parts of the country under the UDAN scheme.
• Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that at present a total of 9 airports have been established in Uttar Pradesh. In future, 7 new airports will be established at Saharanpur, Moradabad, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Shravasti, Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra and 2 new international airports at Noida and Ayodhya. With this, Uttar Pradesh will have 18 domestic and 5 international airports.
• Varanasi is a cultural center of North India and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, which is famous for the bathing ghats on the banks of the river Ganges. The most notable temples in Varanasi are Kashi Vishwanath, Sankat Mochan Temple and Durga Temple.
• Varanasi has long been a center of education and music. Many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers and musicians lived or lived in this city. Apart from this, India's first residential university, 'Banaras Hindu University' is also located here.
• Gorakhpur is located near the Nepal border on the banks of the Rapti River and is also a famous landmark for being the center of the Gorakhnath Math and Gorakhnath Temple, the Nath sect and other Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh saints.
• It may be mentioned that Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) was launched in the year 2016 as a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation under which formerly UDAN 1.0, UDAN 2.0, UDAN 3.0, UDAN 3.1 and UDAN 1.0. UDAN 4.0 schemes were launched.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to build 34 new airports taking the total airports in India to 100 new airports with 1,000 new routes under UDAN RCS scheme by the year 2025.