New Delhi [India], June 26 (ANI): Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu launched India's first 'Easy Connect' flight under the Hub-and-Spoke model from the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Thursday.

According to a Ministry of Commerce & Industry press release, this initiative marks a major step in the government's efforts to transform India into a global aviation hub while offering seamless international connectivity to passengers from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

The Hub-and-Spoke strategy is designed to establish India as the aviation hub of choice for domestic passengers by 2030 and for the global market by 2047. Ministry studies indicate that the development of these aviation hubs can generate about 0.4 million direct and indirect jobs and contribute an additional USD 30 billion to India's GDP by 2030. By 2047, the cumulative economic impact is projected to support approximately 16 million jobs and add nearly USD 1.4 trillion to the national economy.

'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,' Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said during the launch event.

Under this new operational model, international passengers complete all their check-in, immigration, and customs formalities directly at the spoke airport. This makes the local terminal the official first point of departure for the international journey. For example, travellers starting from Varanasi handle all departure formalities locally before boarding their flight to a designated domestic hub airport like New Delhi.

'Our new hub-and-spoke model paves the way for a monumental shift in how our citizens travel--regardless of the city one lives in India,' the Minister said.

He added, 'One can begin their international journey from their home city and travel across the globe with ease and confidence, on India's own wings.'

To maintain security and operational integrity, the model designates both legs of the Domestic-International operations as international flights. Authorities issue separate physical boarding cards with specific identifiers for domestic and international passengers to prevent intermixing. Furthermore, international passengers using the Hub-and-Spoke framework are restricted from accessing customs declaration facilities at the primary hub airports.

The Minister marked the commencement of operations by presenting commemorative boarding passes to the first few check-in passengers. The event saw attendance from high-ranking officials, including Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary Puneet Kansal, Airports Authority of India Chairman Vipin Kumar, and Air India Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director Campbell Wilson, alongside other senior representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the airline operator. (ANI)