New Delhi: Just 5 days left for the most awaited grand inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22.

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia flagged off the first Air India Express flight between Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Ayodhya.

‘4-5 Years ago, No One Could Have Thought of an Airport in Ayodhya’

In his address via video-conferencing, CM Yogi said, "The Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be held on January 22 and the entire country is excited about the event. People are eagerly planning to visit Ayodhya. Four or five years ago, nobody could have thought that an airport would be built in Ayodhya. However, this is a reality no."

He further said, "With four international airports, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as an important state with air connectivity. The prime minister inaugurated the Maharishi Valmiki airport in Ayodhya on December 30. After flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, a flight service connecting Ayodhya and Kolkata has also started from today."

'We will celebrate 3rd Diwali on Jan 22': Scindia 

Meanwhile, Union Civil Aviation Minister Scindia on the occasion said "...The development of Uttar Pradesh is reaching new heights. If we look at the population of Uttar Pradesh, almost 70% of the population of the US is in Uttar Pradesh. Half of Europe's population is in Uttar Pradesh. We celebrated Diwali last November, the second Diwali was on 3rd December when the election results were declared and not for the entire country but for the entire world the third Diwali is going to be celebrated on the coming 22nd.."

"We celebrated Diwali last November, the second Diwali was on 3rd December when the election results were declared, and not for the entire country but for the entire world the third Diwali is going to be celebrated on the coming 22nd," he added. 

Check Timings:

The first flight of the Bengaluru-Ayodhya route will depart on January 17 at 08:05 am and will land in Ayodhya at 10:35 am. The return flight will leave Ayodhya at 3:40 pm and will arrive in Bengaluru at 6:10 pm.

Furthermore, the flight for the Ayodhya-Kolkata route, the flight will take off from Ayodhya at 11:05 am and will land in Kolkata at 12:50 pm.

The return flight will depart from Kolkata at 1:25 pm and will touch down in Ayodhya at 03:10 pm.

The airline announced the operations of its inaugural flights between Ayodhya and New Delhi on December 30 last year alongside the inauguration of the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Ayodhya Dham.