Budget airlines SpiceJet starts eight new flights connecting Madhya Pradesh from today

Bhopal, July 16: In a recent development, budget airliner SpiceJet started operating eight new flights connecting Madhya Pradesh with Maharashtra and Gujarat from Friday. The services are being seen as a major boost to the central government's UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme which aims to enhance air connectivity to remote areas at an affordable price.

In a tweet, the civil aviation ministry wrote, "@flyspicejet will commence operations on these eight new routes: Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior, Gwalior-Pune-Gwalior, Jabalpur-Surat-Jabalpur, & Ahmedabad-Gwalior-Ahmedabad."

The ministry said the new flight routes will boost aerial connectivity of Gwalior and Jabalpur with Maharashtra and Gujarat and further improve economic activity.

The routes were virtually flagged off at an event on Friday which was attended by the newly appointed aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"Rakesh Singh, MP, Jabalpur, Sh Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, MoCA, and other senior officials were also present during the flag off," the aviation ministry tweeted.

Addressing the event, CM Chouhan said that it is important to join all cities of India by means of airways to ensure that the country continues to prosper, adding through the UDAN scheme, several small cities have been provided with air connectivity.