Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan launches India’s first ‘Easy Connect’ flight from Varanasi
Varanasi, June 26 (TNT): Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Thursday launched India’s first ‘Easy Connect’ flight under the Hub-and-Spoke model from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, marking a major step towards transforming the country into a global aviation hub.
The initiative is aimed at providing seamless international connectivity to passengers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities by enabling them to complete all international departure formalities at their originating airport before travelling through designated domestic hub airports.
Speaking at the launch, Ram Mohan said the Hub-and-Spoke model represents a significant step towards making air travel more accessible and building a future-ready, self-reliant, efficient and globally competitive aviation sector.
He said the new model would allow passengers from smaller cities to begin their international journeys directly from their home cities and travel abroad with greater convenience through Indian carriers.
To mark the commencement of operations, the Union Minister presented commemorative boarding passes to the first passengers travelling on the inaugural ‘Easy Connect’ flight.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation said the Hub-and-Spoke strategy aims to make India the preferred aviation hub for Indian travellers by 2030 and a global aviation hub by 2047.
According to ministry estimates, development of the aviation hub ecosystem could generate around 0.4 million direct and indirect jobs and contribute an additional USD 30 billion to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.
By 2047, the initiative is expected to support nearly 16 million jobs and contribute around USD 1.4 trillion to the economy.
Under the new system, passengers travelling internationally complete check-in, immigration and customs formalities at the originating airport, which becomes the first point of departure for the international journey. For example, passengers travelling from Varanasi to an overseas destination via Delhi will complete all exit formalities at Varanasi itself.
The ministry said both sectors of the journey—from the originating airport to the domestic hub and onwards to the international destination—will be treated as international operations.
Separate boarding passes for domestic and international passengers and other operational safeguards have been introduced to ensure security and prevent passenger intermixing.
The event was attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary Puneet Kansal, Airports Authority of India Chairman Vipin Kumar, Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson, and senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the airline.
TNT KS
