Jharkhand to have 3 more airports: Scindia as IndiGo starts Deoghar flight

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the govt was working on 3 more airports in Jharkhand, after the first direct flight between the national capital and Deoghar was flagged off

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said the government was working on three more airports in Jharkhand, after the first direct flight between the national capital and Deoghar was flagged off.

Budget airline IndiGo will operate daily flights between Delhi and Deoghar, and the flight on Saturday was captained by BJP leader and former civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

IndiGo will deploy its A320 neo, the 180-seater twin turbofan engine passenger aircraft, on the route. With the new service, there will be 11 departure flights from Deoghar daily, according to an official release.

The Deoghar airport was constructed at a cost of Rs 400 crore, making it the second airport in Jharkhand after Ranchi.

"We are also working on three more airports in Jharkhand -- Bokaro, Jamshedpur and Dumka -- taking the total number of airports in Jharkhand to 5. We have announced 14 new routes connecting Jharkhand," Scindia said in the release.

Out of the 14 routes, flights from Kolkata and Delhi to Deograh have commenced. In the coming days, Deoghar will be connected with Ranchi and Patna.

"Along with this, we will connect Dumka with Ranchi and Kolkata. Bokaro airport once completed will be connected with Patna and Kolkata," the minister said.

"Baba Baidya Nath Dham in Deoghar is an international religious heritage, and it gives me immense pleasure to state that my ministry has helped millions of pilgrims to visit Deoghar...," he added.

Under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN, as many as 425 routes, 68 airports, heliports and waterdromes have been operationalised.

On Saturday, the flight to Deoghar was virtually flagged off by Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh (Retd).