Under the UDAN scheme UP will get 11 new additional airports in the next 15 months. (File)
A techno-economic feasibility report of PricewaterhouseCoopers, hired to prepare a detailed project report for the proposed international airport at
Jewar in Greater Noida has said that the airport will not only bring Kanpur and Allahabad closer to National Capital Region under the regional connectivity scheme
Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) but also benefit locations in neighbouring states.
Agra and Gautam Budh Nagar would be the main contributors to the volume of passengers to the airport. Among the other places that stand to gain due to better connectivity are Shimla, Ludhiana, Pathankot, Gwalior, Adampur and Bathinda.
The UP government is of the view that once the airport begins functioning from 2022, air travel rates in the state will increase significantly. Air traffic in the state is currently growing at a rate of 28.8 percent.
Under the
UDAN scheme UP will get 11 new additional airports in the next 15 months. With the Jewar airport becoming operational in 2022-23, the spurt in the air traffic would be phenomenal, the state's civil aviation minister Nand Gopal Gupta said.
Mr. Gupta added that 13 new routes will connect the Allahabad with rest of the state.
Air travel from the Delhi NCR region is also expected to increase manifold in the coming years and it will be determined by factors such as "natural growth in air travel demand due to economic progress and model shift from railways to air".
With the final approval from the Centre coming through last week, the UP Civil Aviation Department is now working on the bid process for construction of the Greenfield airport near Jewar amid indications that the bids could be called in August.
The airport is expected to handle 60 lakh passengers by 2022-23, when the first phase of the project is slated to be ready and one crore passengers annually by 2029-30.