Union Civil Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today flagged off SpiceJet flight service for Delhi at the Ahirwan airport here.
Terming the flight service to Delhi, launched under the UDAN scheme, as the "dream of Kanpur residents which has turned into reality", the chief minister said it was necessary for the development of an industrial city like Kanpur.
"UP is progressing rapidly and the air connectivity has become indispensable for development," the chief minister said on the occasion.
Adityanath suggested that a civil terminal could be set up at the Hindon and Javer airport for domestic flights which will decrease the pressure of IGAP, Delhi.
The chief minister said that the flights to Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur can be connected to Hindon as it takes lesser time now to reach Delhi due to the construction of a long fly over from Ghaziabad to Delhi, while IGAP takes more time.
"Businessmen will gain a lot by Kanpur's connection to main cities of the country like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata through airways," he said.
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The chief minister also invited the CMD of SpiceJet to start their services in the main cities of the state and promised full support by the government in this endeavour.
"Brainstorming has started on how to use night air space and soon some conclusion will also be achieved," Adityanath said.
The chief minister also lauded Prabhu for working rapidly in accordance with the prime minister's advise during the Investors Summit in Lucknow.
Speaking on the occasion, the Civil Aviation minister said that a budget of Rs 10 lakh crore would be utilised to expand the aviation services in the country.
"The aviation industry has shown 20 per cent business growth in a year which is good for beginning," he said.
The Air-cargo hub would be set-up all over the country and it would be most advantageous for the farmers who will be able to use the facility to take their produce elsewhere for good prices, Prabhu said.
Later, the Civil Aviation minister tweeted about his visit to Uttar Pradesh and said the commencement of work for the infrastructure augmentation of the Lucknow airport will start in August.
"Reviewed the airport infrastructure, expansion plans,amenities etc with officers of Airport Authority, State Govt,all agencies,instructed rapid implementation all planned projects.Meeting at Lucknow airport was very fruitful & productive.We commence work soon on all LKO in August," the minister tweeted.
The Union Cabinet had in May approved the upgradation of airports in Lucknow, Chennai and Guwahati. These projects would be implemented by the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a cost of more than Rs 5,082 crore.