Future Looks Bleak For Ayodhya Airport As Airlines Discontinue Services (Photo @@811GK)
The inauguration of the Ayodhya airport ahead of Prana pratishtha of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh which was built following a Supreme Court order in the disputed Babri Masjid site, had been celebrated as a push for upcoming spiritual tourism.
With the inauguration, the Indian airline companies rushed to launch operations to the temple town. After the inauguration of the Ram temple in January 2024, there were daily domestic flights to and from about 20 major cities. There were also discussions about the launch of international flights to Ayodhya.
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The Union government had claimed that the foreign tourists were also eager to visit Ayodhya, suggesting that the international flights would begin soon. Then Union Aviation Minister Jyoriraditya Scindia stated that a separate runway would be built for international flights, and the land was acquired for that since the current airport was equipped only for domestic flights.
However, contrary to all the projections, all the domestic flights that operated from the temple town have discontinued over the past two months due to the poor passenger demand. Talking about the trend, Vinod Kumar Garg, director of the Ayodhya airport, said that the flights were discontinued; perhaps passengers don’t want to travel in the rain. “But the situation will improve after the monsoon months,” The Telegraph quoted Garg. There is also concerns about the airport’s future if there are no adequate services or demand from the town.
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Moreover, refuting the claims of international flights, the media house cited government sources to note that no airline has shown interest in flying to Ayodhya to bring international passengers to India.
According to an aviation official from Ayodhya, flights from cities such as Hyderabad, Patna, Darbhanga, and Calcutta have been discontinued because they didn’t have passengers. The official attributed the reason to the gradual decline of excitement to visiting the temple, saying that people were initially curious about the Ram temple, and so they arrived in large numbers. He also expressed improvement in the months ahead.
Notably, bus services to Ayodhya have too hit, with operations from Kathgodam, Ramnagar, and Haldwani depots in Kumaon to Ayodhya in UP suspended due to declining passenger numbers, according to K S Rana, assistant regional manager of roadways. The decision was taken to tackle the financial losses and drop in revenue, Rana said in April.
