Flight Operation from Ramnagar: The new airport built in this city associated with Lord Ram was inaugurated only about 17 months ago. Then after waiting for a few months, flight operations also started. But, what happened within the last few months that the airlines not only refused to go there, but also surrendered their routes. Now this issue has reached the Parliament from the city of Lord Ram. Krishna Shivshankar Patel, MP from this Ram Nagari, has asked a question to the Civil Aviation Minister in the Lok Sabha.
Actually, here we are talking about Ram city Chitrakoot. Flight operations were started from Chitrakoot Airport under the UDAN scheme in March 2024. Flybig Airlines had the exclusive right to operate flights from this airport. Flybig started flight operations between Chitrakoot-Lucknow, but these flights stopped in December 2024. Since this airport was the only airport between Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur and Chitrakoot districts of Bundelkhand, there was hope among the local people for resumption of flight operations.
But, this hope was shattered when Chitrakoot Airport did not get a single flight in the winter schedule 2025. It was learned that no airlines had shown interest in this airport. Also, the Flight Big airline which had the right to operate flights from this airport also did not show any interest in operating the flights. After which, questions started being raised among the local people whether this airport has been closed locally. Otherwise, what is the plan of the Aviation Ministry to start flight operations?
On this issue, the Aviation Ministry says that to provide air connectivity to this holy area associated with the Ramayana era, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) was made a part of the scheme. On March 12, 2024, Flybig Airlines started regular flights between Chitrakoot and Lucknow, which operated several times a week. With the help of these flights, the distance from Lucknow to Chitrakoot was reduced to just one hour. These flights were directly benefiting the local businessmen as well as the devotees coming on pilgrimage.
This was the reason for stopping flight operations
With the commencement of this flight, religious tourism in Chitrakoot and its surrounding areas also got a new dimension. But this flight service service suddenly stopped from December 2024. According to the ministry, there were several reasons for the closure of flight operations.
- Poor Visibility: Dense fog remained a common problem at Chitrakoot Airport during winter. Since it is built on top of a hill, the effect of fog would last till late morning and after noon the visibility was not favorable for landing-takeoff.
- Table Top Runway: Since Chitrakoot Airport’s runway is a table top runway and has deep ditches on three sides, it is extremely risky for aircraft to take off or land in bad weather or inadequate runway visibility (RVR).
- Runway Re-Carpeting: Chitrakoot Air operations were also affected by the ongoing runway re-carpeting work at Lucknow Airport. According to the ministry, due to recarpeting work, flight operations between Lucknow and Chitrakoot airport had to be stopped.
- Aircraft: According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, non-availability of aircraft is also a major reason for the closure of flight operations between Chitrakoot-Lucknow.
Will flight operations resume from Chitrakoot?
According to the ministry, Flybig Airlines could not face these challenges. Therefore, Flybig has transferred the rights of Chitrakoot-Lucknow RCS route to Skyhop Aviation Private Limited. At the same time, Skyhop is currently engaged in the exercise of obtaining Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and acquiring aircraft. As soon as both the processes are completed, flight operations will be resumed from Chitrakoot Airport. However, no clear time limit has been given by the ministry.
