Demand for international status for Prayagraj airport gains momentum
Member of Parliament Praveen Singh Patel attended the meeting as the chief guest. He stated that Prayagraj Airport had set new records during the Mahakumbh, and the time had now come to grant it international airport status.
During the meeting, committee members and officials highlighted that thousands of people from Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi and nearby districts in Madhya Pradesh travel to Gulf countries for employment every month. Currently, they must travel to Lucknow or Delhi to board international flights. Direct international flights from Prayagraj, they argued, would provide significant relief to travelers and boost the region's economic activity.
It was also announced that cargo services from Prayagraj Airport are set to begin soon.
Airport director Mukesh Upadhyay informed attendees that the required land for cargo operations has already been identified, and final approval from the ministry of civil aviation is pending.
Committee members shared concerns over reduced air connectivity. Prior to the Mahakumbh, Prayagraj was connected to 13 cities by air; that number has now dropped to seven. Members including Arunendra Singh, Anirudh Pratap Singh, Murarilal Agarwal and Ravi Mohan Mishra urged the restoration of lost routes and reiterated the demand for international status.
Other proposals raised during the meeting included launching a 6 am flight to Delhi with a return service in the evening, introducing new flights to Surat, Pune, Dehradun and Indore, and establishing a graphic work and information centre at the airport to promote tourism.
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