Lucknow, March 26 : Gorakhpur will now be connected to Lucknow by air. As a Holi gift to the people of Gorakhpur, the flight between two cities will commence on March 28. According to the government spokesman, passengers on the inaugural flight coming from Gorakhpur, will be given a grand welcome at Lucknow Airport. The people of Gorakhpur and those from Nepal and Bihar had been waiting for this flight for a long time. With this new air connectivity, the journey from Guru Gorakhnath Gorakhpur Airport to Lucknow can be made in an hour. Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country, where five international airports are being built simultaneously. The state, till 2017, had only four airports and the number has gone up to eight operational airports, providing air services to 61 destinations, while 13 more are being built. As against 26.49 crore passengers in the year 2016-17, 34.46 crore passengers used the air facility in 2018-19. Three more international airports-- Noida International Greenfield Airport, Jewar, Kushinagar and Ayodhya are nearing completion, taking the total of international airports in UP to five (including Lucknow and Varanasi. The government spokesman said that a total of 13 more airports and seven airstrips in the state are in the process of being activated. The airstrips at Aligarh, Azamgarh, Moradabad, Shravasti, Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra have been selected for air services under the 'Udaan', the regional connectivity scheme of the central government. The airports at Aligarh, Azamgarh, Moradabad and Shravasti are under development, while Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra airports are nearing completion. A budget of 101 crores is proposed for Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram Airport being built in Ayodhya. Procurement of land for the airports at Saharanpur, Jhansi, Meerut and Lalitpur is also underway. /IANS