Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has flagged off direct multiple flights connecting Surat to Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata.

AirAsia India has started operating Airbus 320 aircraft on these 21 weekly flights from 3rd March, according to the following schedule:

*The Bengaluru-Surat flight will depart from Bengaluru at 14:25 and arrive in Surat at 16:15

*The Surat-Bengaluru flight will depart from Surat at 16:45  and arrive in Bengaluru at 19:00

*The Delhi-Surat flight will depart from Delhi at 8:20 and arrive in Surat at 10:00

*It will leave Surat at 11:00 and arrive in Delhi at 12:40

*The Kolkata-Surat flight will leave Kolkata at 13:55 and arrive in Surat at 16:30

*It will leave Surat at 17:05 and land in Kolkata at 19:40

In his inaugural address on Friday,  the Minister said that with the commencement of these new routes, Surat which is already a business and entrepreneurship hub, will now be connected to 10 cities including one international city.

The government has sanctioned Rs 350 crores for the re-development of Surat airport, out of which Rs 163 crores is for the construction of a new terminal building. With this, the passenger holding capacity will increase from the current 17.5 lakh passengers to 26 lakh passengers, he said.

In addition, new airport aprons will also be developed with an investment of Rs 72 crores.  This new terminal is expected to be completed by mid-2023.

Highlighting the growth of air connectivity in Surat and Gujarat, the Minister also said that prior to 2014, there were only 36 weekly flights from Surat which as of today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has grown to 152 flights per week.

At present, there are 10 airports in Gujarat and 2 new greenfield airports namely Dholera and Hirasar are in the pipeline with investments of Rs 1305 crores and Rs 1405 crores respectively.