Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the Kushinagar International Airport, bringing the total number of airports in Uttar Pradesh that handle scheduled passenger flights to nine, up from four in 2017.
The first aeroplane to land at Kushinagar was a charter from Colombo, carrying over 100 Buddhist monks and dignitaries.
J M Scindia, the Union Civil Aviation Minister, said that Kushinagar will have direct flights to Delhi four times weekly beginning November 26 and subsequently to Mumbai and Kolkata beginning December 18.