Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday announced that nine more airports would be constructed in Uttar Pradesh over the next two years.

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Scindia said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is giving a huge importance to the civil aviation sector.

He said that only 74 airports were constructed in the first 65 years of independence, while 75 airports have been developed in the last nine years of the Modi government, taking the total number to 149. The total include airports, heliports and waterdromes.

The civil aviation minister said that only three greenfield airports were constructed in 65 years, while 12 greenfield airports have been developed by the current government since 2014.

Scindia said that six airports were developed in Uttar Pradesh in 65 years.

The minister said three more airports have been constructed in the state in the last nine years.

"We will construct nine more airports in the next two years in Uttar Pradesh," said Scindia, adding that the total number would reach 18.

Responding to a query about the Meerut airport, the minister said operations with ATR aircraft using VFR (Visual Flight Rating) can be started once the state government provides an additional 115 acres of land.

"Meerut is an unlicensed airport and was identified during the third round of bidding under the UDAN scheme for development and to operate RCS flights," Scindia said in a written reply.

Under UDAN 4.2 round of bidding, the Meerut-Lucknow-Meerut route has been awarded to FlyBig for the operation of RCS flights with 19-seater type of aircraft and frequency of 133 seats per week and not for ATR 72.

"Only after the airport is ready and licensed, the Selected Airlines Operator can start operating RCS flights from the Meerut airport," he added.

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