Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu asks states to boost regional connectivity

Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Thursday asked state governments to give a fillip to intra-regional and inter-regional air connectivity and realise the growth benefits stemming from multiplier effects of travel and tourism industry.

To make air travel affordable and accessible for the common man, the minister said states will have to be an integral partner of the Udan scheme and join hands with airlines and other stakeholders.

"It is the states where the action is. It is they who will have to drive the process and become beneficiaries of growth," he said while inaugurating the 3rd edition of 'Wings 2019' organised by industry body FICCI and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Prabhu said the states must envisage the facility of having wide-bodied aircraft take off and land from their airports. Such an approach will provide tailwinds to the Indian aviation sector, which has the potential to become the country's growth engine.