Civil Aviation Minister Naidu launches first ‘Easy Connect’ flight from Varanasi

In a significant milestone towards realising the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu launched India’s first ‘Easy Connect’ flight under the Hub-and-Spoke model from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Varanasi. It signifies Government’s efforts to transform India into a global aviation hub and provide seamless international connectivity to passengers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

The Hub-and-Spoke strategy aims at making India the aviation hub of choice for Indian passengers by 2030 and for the world by 2047. The benefits extend beyond aviation. Improved international connectivity is expected to facilitate trade, tourism, investment and regional economic development. Studies undertaken by the Ministry indicate that aviation hub development could generate approximately 0.4 million direct and indirect jobs and contribute an additional USD 30 billion to India’s GDP by 2030. By 2047, the cumulative impact could support approximately 16 million direct and indirect jobs and contribute nearly USD 1.4 trillion to the economy.

Shri Naidu said: “Today we take a major step forward towards realising our vision of making air travel more accessible and building a future-ready, self-reliant Indian aviation industry that is efficient, inclusive, and globally competitive.”(UPDATED N 26TH JUNE 2026)