New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): Under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN, SpiceJet on Sunday launched seven flights.

The airline launched the Gorakhpur-Varanasi flight, which was inaugurated by Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Both Gorakhpur and Varanasi are popular religious and tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh. The airline will be deploying its Boeing 737 and Q400 aircraft on these routes.

Besides the Gorakhpur-Varanasi-Gorakhpur UDAN flight, the airline has launched flights on the Hyderabad-Puducherry-Hyderabad, Varanasi-Kanpur-Varanasi and Varanasi-Patna sectors under the regional connectivity scheme, it said in a statement.

The airline has also launched eight industry-first flights including those on Jaipur-Dharamshala and Tirupati-Shirdi sectors, the statement said.

"We are delighted to launch multiple new flights in our Summer Schedule 2022. It's great to see Indian aviation opening up again in high spirits and I am extremely hopeful to see our new UDAN flights making a valuable contribution not only to the tourism of Uttar Pradesh, but across India," said Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer at SpiceJet. SpiceJet operates 63 daily flights under the UDAN scheme, the statement added.