Excited passengers chant 'Jai Shri Ram' on their way to Maharishi Valmiki International Airport in Ayodhya

Pilot Ashutosh Shekhar welcomed the passengers by chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and also read out the verses from Shri Ramcharitmanas. The enthusiastic passengers joined him and recited the Hanuman Chalisa on the flight.

Ayodhya: The Indigo flight 6E 2128 that flew to Ayodhya's newly launched Maharishi Valmiki International Airport for the first time witnessed a show of community prayer with all 45 passengers reciting the Hanuman Chalisa and chanting Jai Shri Ram. December 30 marked a historic day as a commercial passenger flight took off from Delhi and landed at the Ayodhya Airport. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the airport on Saturday.

Pilot Ashutosh Shekhar, read out the verses from Shri Ramcharitmanas to the passengers and the crew and co-pilot Nikhil Bakshi welcomed them by chanting Jai Shri Ram. Bakshi also spoke to them about the literal meaning of Ayodhya, which is a city, which cannot be won in war.

The passengers were excited and elated after landing in Ayodhya. It was a special day for the aircrew to be a part of the first flight that landed in Ayodhya. In addition to creating new job possibilities, the airport will boost commerce, connectivity and enhance tourism. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) started the Ayodhya Airport project in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it had signed in April 2022 with the Uttar Pradesh government. It took a whopping ₹1,450 crore to build the airport.