Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 8 MARCH: Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday flagged off all-women crew-operated Delhi–Bareilly inaugural flight on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The travel time for the flight is just 60 minutes.
Recently, the Bareilly airport has been upgraded for commercial flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik. The flagging off marks the commencement of the 56th airport under the UDAN scheme and marks the successful operationalization of the eighth airport of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon, Agra and Prayagraj.
Hardeep Singh Puri said, “I would like to thank all the stakeholders who have done a tremendous job to get start the Bareilly flight under ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ (UDAN) scheme.”
“We have a strong team of women in the aviation sector, with 16 per cent of staff controlling the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). Today is a matter of great pride for us because all the women are commanding the inaugural flight of Alliance Air and other 11 more flights from different route under all-women crew,” he added.
Trishul Military Airbase, Bareilly belongs to the Indian Air Force and the land was handed over to the Airport Authority of India for construction of the interim civil aviation operations. The Government of India sanctioned Rs. 88 crores under the UDAN scheme for the development of the interim civil aviation operations. The upgradation was undertaken by the AAI with a cost of Rs. 65 crores.
Alliance Air was awarded the Delhi – Bareilly route under the UDAN-4 bidding process last year. The airline will be deploying its ATR 72 600 aircraft having a seating capacity of 70 seats on this route.
To date, 325 routes and 56 airports including 5 heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme. To keep the fares accessible for the common man, financial incentives in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) is being provided under the UDAN scheme from the Centre, State governments and airport operators to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and underserved airports under the scheme.
This aerial connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of the lakhs of people who visit Bareilly for the NathNagri (known for the four Shiva temples located in four corners of the region – DhopeshwarNath, MadniNath, AlakhaNath and TrivatiNath), Ala Hazrat, Shah Sharafat Miyan and Khankahe Niyazia, Zari nagari and historically important sites like as Sanjashya (where the Buddha descended from Tushita to earth). The city is also a center for furniture manufacturing and cotton, cereal and sugar trading. This air connectivity will fulfil the aspirations of people of Bareilly and the entire Uttar Pradesh state. Apart from enhancing the aerial the aerial connectivity of the region, the flight operations will provide additional benefits to the trade, tourism, and local economy.
Alliance Air Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Harpreet A De Singh said, “We are celebrating the Women’s Day with an all-women crew today and for the first time in Alliance Air history, we have deployed all-women crew for the inaugural flight to Bareilly under the command of women pilots, women crew, women engineers, women aircraft dispatchers and women Air Traffic Controller (ATC).”
