PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Kushinagar international airport in Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the Kushinagar international airport, the third international airport in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, he said the Central government has approved 900 new air routes under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme of which 350 have already become operational while more than 50 new airports, or those which were not in service earlier, have become operational.

“The government is also working on preparing more than 200 airports, heliports and water ports for seaplanes in the next four years.”

He also said the Kushinagar international airport will provide better connectivity to Buddhist sites in both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for domestic and foreign travellers because of its strategic location near Lord Buddha’s birthplace Lumbini, besides Kapilvastu, Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon, and Bodh Gaya, where Buddha got enlightenment.

Describing Kushinagar international airport as a tribute to the devotion of Buddhists across the world, PM said that the region had been witness to the entire journey of Lord Buddha from enlightenment to Mahaparinirvana and with the opening of the airport today (Wednesday), it was getting connected directly to the world.

He pointed out that the goal behind all these steps is to provide better connectivity to people living in the remotest corners. PM said that many more middle-class people were able to avail of flight services today than in the past due to the steps taken by the government.

The prime minister also said the process of setting up eight new flying academies at five airports has also been started to train the youth in the aviation sector.

On the policy front, PM Narendra Modi Modi said that allowing defence airspace for travel by civilians has reduced both distance and time between destinations considerably.

“The recently launched drone policy is going to bring life-changing transformation in the fields ranging from agriculture to health, to disaster management to defence,” he said.

PM Narendra Modi said that the recently launched PM Gatishakti - National Master Plan will not only improve governance, but also ensure that all modes of transport such as road, rail, air support each other and increase each other’s capacity.

“In Uttar Pradesh, eight or nine new airports have been opened prior to the opening of Kushinagar airport. Work is in progress on the Jewar International Airport. Apart from that, airport projects are going on in Ayodhya, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad and Shravasti,” the PM further remarked.

The prime minister also welcomed the maiden Sri Lankan Airlines flight carrying scores of Buddhist monks and dignitaries from the island nation as it touched down at the airport.