00:00While the U.P. government has plans to inaugurate the much-hailed river airport,
00:04the existing high-profile airports, the one that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is boasting about in Singapore,
00:11they have also come under the scanner.
00:15The existing high-profile airports across the state have been left deserted.
00:20They were touted as aviation hubs, which would redefine air travel in India.
00:27But what it has turned out to be that they have become ghost airports, no takers for those airports.
00:36Seven airports were started, much fanfare as well under the centre's flagship Udan scheme.
00:44But under, you know, just about several years down the line, multiple airports in U.P.,
00:50six out of them, six out of the seven airports that have been inaugurated,
00:55see no passengers and no flights as well.
00:59So what's exactly happening?
01:01Where was the money spent?
01:03Why was a strategic decision taken to put airports and to get them started in areas like these when there
01:10are no takers?
01:12This is a detailed eye-opening report.
01:18BJP's double-engine government could be in the dock.
01:22What started as a new era of aviation in Uttar Pradesh has sadly been grounded.
01:29Here is a stunning RTI reveal exposed in reply from the Airports Authority of India.
01:35The RTI input reveals that out of the seven brand-new airports in the state which started commercial flights in
01:402021,
01:41six of them no longer run flights.
01:45Only the Ayodhya airport remains viable for flights.
01:49India today has highlighted the situation in Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Kuchinagar and Chitrakut airports.
01:58Hundreds of crores spent on these airports to boost regional connectivity in waste
02:03as these airports stand as mere showpieces.
02:10Inaugurated in March 2024, the airport operations were shut down abruptly.
02:15Airline operators withdrew due to technical objections and low visibility requirements.
02:20Now, only non-scheduled and chartered flights are operational at the airport.
02:25The Aligarh airport was upgraded under the Uraan scheme with over 100 crores,
02:30is now unable to attract major airline operators.
02:33The airport remains non-operational for commercial flights since April 2025.
02:39Now, this airport is primarily being used for training.
02:56Touted as a game-changer for the brass industry,
02:58regular flights to Moradabad airport lasted only a few months.
03:02Traders now wait for the promised connectivity that remains stuck on the ground.
03:26Launched in 2021 to link Buddhist pilgrimage sites,
03:29operations shut down shortly after the launch.
03:41Despite the high-profile inauguration by the Yogi government
03:44to boost regional connectivity in Bundelkhand,
03:46the Chitrakut airport remains non-functional for commercial travel
03:50for the past 14 months.
03:52The grounder airports have sparked a political blame game.
04:13So, has the centre's much-touted Uraan scheme,
04:15which aims to fight the armed people, been grounded when it comes to Uttar Pradesh?
04:21Though, when we spoke to the airport authorities from the district magistrates
04:27from the district levels, they clarified there are some technical problems
04:32or some said that the operations will be beginning very soon.
04:35But the question is, the taxpayers' money which is being spent
04:40in the construction of these airports making tall claims,
04:44is it a lie or what?
04:46With cameraman Gaurav Gupta, Samad Srivastava for India Today.
04:51All right, let's cut across to Samad Srivastava now for more on this.
04:56Samad, seven airports we looked at.
04:58This is an RTI that was filed by a colleague of ours here at India Today.
05:02And what we found was that six of them now do not function anymore
05:07after having spent crores and crores on building these airports.
05:11They are just not functioning because, A, there is no footfall.
05:14And when, as your story indicates, the footfall is not happening
05:18because there isn't enough connectivity either.
05:21So, at the moment, I'm trying to think of even a place like Muradabad.
05:25Such an import-export hub.
05:27Muradabad, and we know of so many people from Muradabad
05:30who fly into Delhi constantly to take their flights.
05:33So, what exactly happened here?
05:36What is the ground sense that you're picking up
05:38of why there wasn't enough footfall at these places?
05:46See, it's a big drawback what happened with the public of these districts especially.
05:50They were shown dreams, made tall claims by the government,
05:54but nothing happened on the ground.
05:55Because, you see, in our ground report,
05:57we have covered almost five to six districts,
05:59including Aasamgarh, Chitrakoot, Chavasti, Kushi Nagar,
06:02Aligarh, Muradabad, and all of these districts have one thing very common.
06:07Number one was the footfall.
06:08The footfall of the passengers were low.
06:11Secondly, many had some technical issues, technical glitches,
06:14while some are still operational for the VIP flights
06:16or some chopper flights, for some VIP movement.
06:19But there isn't any passenger flight moving across
06:22from those particular airports.
06:24And when such announcements were made,
06:26tall claims were made by the government,
06:27it was clearly said that,
06:29yes, it will be the backbone of Muradabad.
06:31But it will be the backbone of Aasamgarh.
06:32Because Aasamgarh, if you talk about,
06:34it's the region in Purwanchal.
06:35And apart from Varanasi,
06:37there isn't any much airport, Praagraj.
06:39So Purwanchal comes around Aasamgarh
06:41and that could have been a big backbone
06:43for that particular district as well.
06:44But if you talk about Muradabad,
06:47that you were referring here,
06:48is a big hub for the trade.
06:49If the airport was running,
06:51that could have been a major gain for the district.
06:53At a time, when government talks about
06:55ODOP 1 district 1 product,
06:57these airports, if functional,
06:59could have been a major, major gain situation
07:01for those particular districts.
07:04So India Today report clearly says
07:06the infrastructure is well made,
07:08the preparations were well made,
07:10and the entire thing was good.
07:13But what was not operational was the flight.
07:16What was not there for the footfall.
07:18What was not there was the planning.
07:19And that's why these airports are suffering,
07:22despite having a great infrastructure,
07:24having a lot of money invested in those airports,
07:27having crores of money,
07:28the taxpayers' money,
07:29but nothing on the ground,
07:30no flights whatsoever,
07:32no passengers whatsoever,
07:33and no trade whatsoever.
07:35Back to you.
07:36But this is not the complete picture.
07:38Let's bring our audiences up to speed
07:41with another aspect of what's unfolding in UP.
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