SURAT: Airport activists have started a campaign on the official Twitter account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an international airport for the city. The campaign was launched on Monday and will run until February 25 when Modi is scheduled to attend the flag off ceremony of Surat night marathon being organized by a private group in the city.Surat Airport Action Committee (SAAC) president Sanjay Ezhawa said, “The PM is visiting the Diamond City on February 25 and we want people to flood his official Twitter handle with messages demanding an international airport. We hope that tens of thousands of Twitter messages would inspire our PM to give the gift of an international airport to the city.”After BJP swept the assembly elections by winning all the 12 assembly seats in the Diamond City, the residents had flooded the Twitter handle of Modi and civil aviation minister for expediting the process for an international airport for the city. During one of his public meetings in the city ahead of the assembly elections, Modi had promised an international airport for the city.The PM’s statement on the international airport was criticized on social media and the users asked why there was a long delay in providing customs notified status and immigration staff to Surat when the central government was quick enough to declare an international airport for Rajkot.The TOI had recently highlighted the state government’s letter to the DGP asking for allotment of 68 staff for starting immigration facilities at Surat airport in the financial year 2018-19. This means that the staff will be allotted only after March 2018. “PM Modi has not spoken anything new. We are hearing about the international airport for the past two years, but can’t see the development on ground. It was poll season and we are all used to such stunts,” an RTI activist Rajesh Modi said.Increase in passenger numbers: Total passenger flying to and from Surat airport has increased to 5.63 lakh in 2017-18 till January 2018 as per the data published by Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Monday. The total flight movement in the year was recorded at 9,324 flights. In January month alone, 60,000 passengers had flown to and from Surat airport.

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