DRMumbai: According to newspaper reports, January will see the start of direct flights by IndiGo between Pune and Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said. Officials said that the direct flight will benefit devotees from Pune and surrounding areas who plan to travel to the holy city during the Kumbh .The service is due to start before mid-January when Ardh Kumbh commences in Prayagraj. The Ardh Kumbh ends on March 4, 2019. “Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme, a new IndiGo flight to Prayagraj from the Lohegaon airport is likely to commence soon. While the date has not been confirmed yet, AAI, Pune, has been informed that IndiGo flight operations to Prayagraj will be commencing soon,” Ajay Kumar, Director, Pune airport, said.
The Allahabad airport underwent upgradation recently at a cost of Rs.160 crore-plus. Over the net 15 months, the AAI plans to connect the Prayagraj airport with 12 cities apart from Pune, such as Hyderabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Dehradun, Indore, Kolkata, Raipur and Patna. Aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said, “It is understood that the route between Pune and Prayagraj has already been allotted to IndiGo. The RCS flight will indeed come as a boon for the hundreds of devotees and pilgrims in Western Maharashtra who travel to this important religious centre every year.
