LUCKNOW : Flight operations from Delhi to the newly constructed airport in Bareilly will begin with effect from March 8 under the Centre's flagship regional connectivity scheme.

Under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), flights are scheduled to be operated by Alliance Air between Bareilly and Delhi from March 8, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The airline will also comence two flights from Prayagraj connecting Delhi and Bilaspur, from March 1 under RCS.

Notably, Bareilly would be the eighth airport in the state to get functional after the ones in Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hindon, Agra and Prayagraj.

Civil Aviation Secretary Surendra Singh said the state government has spent around Rs 83 crore on the construction of a civil enclave in Bareilly. This is apart from the around 35 acres of land which has been made available to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) free of cost and Rs 9.8 crore for ensuring dedicated power supply, he said.

Sources in the civil aviation department said that IndiGo Airlines has also sent a team to Bareilly to conduct an assessment to operate flights. "The area is largely unserved despite having many tourist places nearby," a senior official in the department said.

The area also has several industrialists who seek flights to reach business centres like Delhi and Mumbai. Sources added that the demand for these facilities had been pending for long but neither the district administration nor the previous state governments had paid heed.

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