There was a rush among airlines to start operations in the Ayodhya when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Maharshi Valmiki International Airport three weeks ahead of the Pran Pratistha.
By the time Modi consecrated the new Ram temple on January 22, the airport was handling daily flights to and from about 20 major cities of the country, with talk of international flights beginning soon.
Less than seven months on, the daily flights from at least 13 cities have stopped, all of them discontinued over the past two months, because of poor passenger demand. The trend has raised fears about the airport’s future viability.
Aviation officials have blamed the monsoon for the low passenger traffic — without explaining why — and suggested the situation would improve in the coming months.
“Some airlines that have discontinued their daily flights have started weekly or bi-weekly services. Currently, there are direct flights from Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. But the daily flights from cities such as Hyderabad, Patna, Darbhanga and Calcutta have been discontinued because they didn’t have passengers,” an aviation department official in Ayodhya said.
“Initially, people were curious about the Ram temple, and so they arrived in large numbers. But that excitement is gradually subsiding. We hope there will be a moderate but constant footfall of air travellers in the temple town in the future.”
The Prime Minister had held a road show from the airport to the town after inaugurating it on December 30 last year.
The central and state governments had claimed that foreign tourists were eager to visit Ayodhya.
Almost all major airlines started flights to and from Ayodhya and said that international flights would begin soon.
Civil aviation minister Jyoriraditya Scindia had said at the time that while the current airstrip was equipped for domestic flights, a separate runway would be built for international flights. Land was acquired for the purpose.
But sources in the government said that no airline that brings international passengers to India has shown any interest in flying to Ayodhya.
Vinod Kumar Garg, director of the Ayodhya airport, told reporters: “Some flights have been discontinued. Perhaps passengers don’t want to travel in the rain, but the situation will improve after the monsoon months.”
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