As many as 100 chartered flights will land in Ayodhya on January 22 to attend the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony of the Ram Temple, said Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, adding that this will provide the airport with an opportunity to check its potential.
He was speaking at the virtual function for the inauguration of the Ayodhya-to-Ahmedabad flight by IndiGo. While Adityanath joined the function from Lucknow, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia joined from the national capital.
The chief minister also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the state its fourth international airport. The Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30.
Yogi Adithyanath also received the boarding pass for the first tri-weekly flights on Thursday between Ahmedabad and Ayodhya.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said five new airports will be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh in one month. "Ayodhya airport will be expanded and the runway will be extended that will allow landing of bigger aircraft and operation of international flights," Scindia said.
Scindia on Thursday said five new airports will be inaugurated in Uttar Pradesh in one month which will take the total number of airports in the state to 19. The airports at Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot and Shravasti will come up in the state. He added that the second phase of expansion will start soon and that more flights will be connecting the city. The consecration ceremony at the Ram temple will be held on January 22.
Tight security
The authorities have taken steps to ramp up security for the event. Besides the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) which will see the city fortified with 1,500 CCTV cameras, as many as 10,715 AI-based cameras will also be set up. These high-tech cameras, installed in the city’s yellow zone, are equipped with face recognition technology.
Both the SDRF and NDRF have been deployed in the city. The SDRF will conduct regular boat patrols. Anti-drone system will also be implemented in the city.
