Efforts to enhance air connectivity in Uttarakhand progressed further on Friday with the start of a regular flight between the Hindon airport in Ghaziabad and Pithoragarh. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat formally inaugurated the Hindon-Pithoragarh-Hindon flight service from the Hindon airport on Friday.

A nine-seater aircraft of the Heritage Aviation company will operate on this route six days a week with no service on Thursday. From Pithoragarh, the flight will depart at 11.30 am and arrive at Hindon at 12.30 pm. From Hindon, the flight will depart at 1 pm and arrive at Pithoragarh at 2 pm.

Expressing happiness at the start of the air service between Ghaziabad and Pithoragarh, the Chief Minister said apart from Pithoragarh, this service will drastically cut the travel time from Almora, Champawat and Bageshwar to the national Capital. It takes considerable time and is also expensive to travel by road from Delhi to Pithoragarh.

However, the start of this air service will not only save time of the travellers but will also prove to be comparatively economical.

Pithoragarh being a border area district, the start of this service is also important from the strategic point of view.

He added Uttarakhand is vulnerable from the disaster point of view. Often patients in serious condition have to be referred to higher centres.

Air services are very important in mountainous regions also to ensure that such patients are able to reach higher centres from remote areas in less time.

This air service will also benefit those travelling to Kailash Mansarovar. Rawat also said that the government is building a tulip garden in Pithoragarh.

The purpose of building this tulip garden is to attract domestic and international tourists. Those coming for mountaineering to Pithoragarh will also benefit from this air service.

In the past few years, the air connectivity in the State has been expanded noticeably.

Recently, the Mumbai-Dehradun-Varanasi flight was started. Dehradun is now connected by air to Mumbai, Varanasi, Jammu, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Patna, Raipur, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Amritsar, Guwahati and other cities. Flights are also being operated from Dehradun to Pithoragarh and Pantnagar.

The Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh, Almora-Pithoragarh MP Ajay Tamta, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar MP Ajay Bhatt and others were also present on the occasion.