New Delhi, Aug 17 : Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Culture (Independent Charge) and Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma jointly inaugurated direct flight of Air India’s budget arm, Air India Express, between Varanasi and Sharjah on Monday.
The Varanasi- Sharjah flight, IX 183, took off from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi with 170 passengers.
Air India Express has deployed a 186-seater Boeing 737-800 aircraft for this flight.
Air India also introduced a hub and spoke service from Varanasi, which will offer convenient links to many international destinations, by connecting the passengers to/from Air India flights in Delhi. With the newly introduced hub and spoke service, Air India will offer convenient links to many international destinations in the Gulf countries, Jeddah, Moscow, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong by connecting the passengers to/from Air India flights.
Speaking on the occasion, Raju said that the new flight will improve the air connectivity. He also said that if Uttar Pradesh becomes more civil aviation friendly, connectivity will go up easily. He also emphasized upon the need of establishing training centers to improve the skills for aviation sector. (ANI)