Ahmedabad: In an effort to boost regional air connectivity, the Gujarat government has decided to launch five more intra-state flights from Ahmedabad and Surat.
The state government would launch the Ahmedabad-Bhuj-Ahmedabad, Surat-Bhavnagar-Surat, Surat-Amreli-Surat, Surat-Rajkot-Surat, and Surat-Ahmedabad-Surat flights to boost air connectivity within the state by connecting smaller cities and tourist places with the larger cities.
Fifty-seater aircraft will be used on the Ahmedabad-Bhuj-Ahmedabad route and nine-seater planes on the other four routes.
Gujarat’s civil aviation minister Purnesh Modi said the state government has capped the airfare for these regional flights from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 5,000 per ticket.
“The state government will provide viability gap funding to boost air connectivity within the state,” he said, adding plans are also in the pipeline to launch flights connecting Tier 3 and Tier 4 with other cities.
Intra-state flights will connect ten airports and operate on 20 routes under the central government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme – UDAN and the state government scheme.
The state government expects the regional air connectivity services to boost employment generation at different airports and give a push to the economy, besides making travel quicker. The regional flights will be especially beneficial for business persons who need to frequent between these cities. It also expects intra-state air connectivity to come as a big boost to the tourism sector, which will again lead to job creation.