New Delhi, April 17 : Flight operations on Keshod-Mumbai route under the RCS-UDAN scheme of Government of India was started on Saturday, an official statement said here on Sunday. Alliance Air was awarded the route under the UDAN RCS-4.1 bidding process. With this, 417 routes would be operationalised under the UDAN-RCS scheme. The airline will operate thrice a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and will deploy it’s ATR 72-600, 70-seater turbo prop aircraft designed for shorter distance flights on the route. With this, Alliance Air will become the first airline to connect Keshod to Mumbai under UDAN. Speaking on the occasion, on Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “This new UDAN flight we are starting today, will connect the place, which was beloved by our Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi with the financial capital of our country. “Two famous world-renowned tourist attractions – Somnath Temple and Gir National Park are located near Keshod. With the launch of new route, tourists will be able to visit both easily. Apart from this, various industries are established in Keshod such as furniture, textile, chemicals and cement, which will also be benefitted from the commencement of new flight route.” He said Keshod will also be connected with Ahmedabad. In this year’s summer schedule, Ahmedabad has been connected to three cities in India – Amritsar, Agra and Ranchi. Similarly, Porbandar and Rajkot have been connected with Mumbai. “Two new greenfield airports are also to be constructed in Hirasar and Dholera, which will have 23 lakh passengers per year and 30 lakh passengers per year with a budget allocation of Rs 1405 crore and Rs 1305 crore, respectively,” Scindia said. A special route connecting Porbandar and Delhi will start on April 27, he added. AKM RJ