PM Modi inaugurates T3 of Lucknow airport along with 5 other airports in Uttar Pradesh

In a recent development, PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated Terminal-3 of Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow. Along with this, the PM also inaugurated five other airports in various districts of Uttar Pradesh which are Aligarh, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad and Shravasti.

During the inauguration, the PM said that “We are increasing the strength of the tier 2 and tier 3 cities, so that urbanisation continues unabated. Small cities have equal rights to airports and good highways as big metro cities.”
Shravasti airport is a part of Buddha circuit and had got 2B VFR (visual flight rules) licence from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) on Feb 2. So as of now, commercial operations of smaller 19-seater aircraft are permitted.

It is a huge development and 19-seater airplanes can operate between these districts and Lucknow on a daily basis. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will take care of these airports. As per reports, one flight will operate each on these routes every day.
On January 10, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also granted a 2B VFR rules license to Chitrakoot airport while Aligarh airport got certification for its 1500-m runway in January first week.

Moradabad (2100-meter) runway, and Azamgarh O1,499-meter runway, were also licensed for commercial operations in November of the previous year. These airports have been developed under the central government's regional connectivity UDAN scheme.

For those who don’t know, to get the 2B VFR license, the runway must ensure clear visibility for aircraft landing up to 550 meters. Meanwhile, it is being anticipated that Lucknow airport's Terminal 3 (T3) would be able to serve 8 million passengers yearly with a peak-hour capacity of 4000 passengers!