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Vadodara airport to receive international flights soon

With immigration and customs facilities all set to be started soon at Vadodara airport, Barodians can look forward to international air connectivity in the future. At least flights to Dubai or Sharjah will start.
Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt on Sunday said that Union home minister Amit Shah during his visit to the city on Saturday had handed over the gazette notification issued by the Centre through which Vadodara airport will get immigration and customs facilities.
Since the inauguration of the new terminal building, the demand for airline connectivity to international destinations has been on a rise. “The airport in Vadodara has got approval to start international services,” said Bhatt, adding that Shah handed over the gazette notification for starting immigration and customs facilities at Vadodara airport. She thanked Prime Minister, home minister and Civil Aviation Minister for starting the facilities at the airport.
For having a direct flight to destinations like that in the United States, extension of the existing runway at Vadodara airport is necessary. “But airline connectivity to Dubai or Sharjah will not require an extended runway,” she said, adding that she had been pursuing the proposal with civil aviation ministry to start flights to Gulf countries for many years and is happy to get official notification.
“Since our airport already has the necessary space and infrastructure like the conveyor belts, space for setting up immigration and customs facilities, starting the new facilities will not be an issue now,” she said. Bhatt added that on February 18, the Union home ministry had written a letter to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Gujarat government after which an inspection team had come for assessing the facilities available at Vadodara airport.
As footfall grows, more connectivity in offing As passenger footfalls at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad are growing year after year, the airport operator is striving to improve connectivity to different destinations from the city. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) is set to implement the summer schedule for 2023 effective March 28, 2023, and flights to Bangkok, Jeddah and Muscat are likely to be launched. Travel industry sources said additional flight connectivity will help boost tourism in several sectors.
The direct regular flights to Jeddah will come handy for travellers going for the Haj pilgrimage, said a travel agent from Ahmedabad. SVPI airport in Ahmedabad already provides connectivity to at least 10 international destinations at present which include direct flights to Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, London, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh City, among others. Besides international flights, additional connectivity is also expected at several domestic destinations which include Goa, Mumbai, and Nasik, among others.
The city airport already connects Ahmedabad with at least 33 domestic destinations across the country including major cities and to destinations connecting tourist places such as Udaipur, Jaipur,
Jodhpur, Jammu, Dehradun, Bagdogra, among many others. From April 2022 to January 2023, the passenger footfall at SVPI airport rose 81 per cent from 45.05 lakh to 81.52 lakh, indicates data compiled by Airports Authority of India (AAI). Interestingly, international passenger footfall has seen 180 per cent growth during this period.
“With flight connectivity improving significantly to touch pre-Covid levels, the overall passenger footfall at the city airport has increased significantly. This is especially true for international flights. With improved connectivity to Gulf countries, passengers going to the US and Canada often take connecting flights via Dubai or Abu Dhabi or Doha in Qatar from Ahmedabad. This adds to the international passenger footfall significantly,” said a top source at the city airport.
During this period, even aircraft movements from the city airport went up 54 per cent from 42,602 aircraft in 2021-22 to 65,544, suggests AAI data. Travel industry players attribute growth in passenger footfall to improved sentiment for leisure travel. “Corporate movement has also picked up . With more countries opening up borders to tourists and travelers from other countries and flight connectivity improving, the travel movement is bound to increase,” said Anuj Pathak, president, Tour operators’ and travel agents’ Association of Gujarat (TAG)

SOURCE: Travel World