DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A viral video being shared on social media claims that only two airports were there in Uttar Pradesh before Yogi Adityanath took over as Chief Minister of the state in 2017. It claimed that under the current UP government, 24 airports were announced, and 10 of them are functional, while 14 are under construction.
Ground Reality of Common People
Savage reply on development in Uttar Pradesh #AyalaanReview #ThisIsMauritius #FridaysWithArmaan #GunturKaraamReview #KH237 #RamMandirPranPratishta #TejRan pic.twitter.com/EZPPbgxIcI— DesiVerse (@desi_verse) January 12, 2024
The video can be seen here and here on Twitter.
The video clip shows a man saying, “Only two airports from British rule till March 2017 were operating in Uttar Pradesh when the Akhilesh Yadav regime ended in March 2017. After Yogi Adityanath came to power today, we have 24 airports, of which 10 are operating and 14 are under construction. Before 2017, all the governments and British were only able to build two airports.”
FACT CHECK
Digiteye India took it up for fact-check and ran a Google search on airports in Uttar Pradesh. A link led us to the latest PIB press release on UP airports by Aviation Minister Jyotiradiya Scindia, posted on January 11, 2024 where the minister was quoted to have said that Uttar Pradesh had only 6 airports in 2014, while it has 10 airports currently, including the newly inaugurated airport in Ayodhya.
The news was also found in ANI’s video news here, where the minister announced, “Uttar Pradesh had only 6 airports in 2014, and now the state has 10 airports, including Ayodhya airport. By the next year, UP will have five more airports. One airport each in Azamgarh, Aligarh, Moradabad, Shravasti, and Chitrakoot will be inaugurated in the next month. An international-level airport will also be ready in Jewar by the end of this year.”
Hence, the claim that UP had only two airports prior to Yogi Adityanath was false. While Lucknow and Varanasi were in regular use, there were six airports on record in UP as of 2014 and the claim that the state had only 2 airports since British rule was also false.
Claim: UP had only two airports since the British period to 2017. Under Yogi Adityanath, it has 24 now.
Conclusion: Prior to 2017, Uttar Pradesh had 6 airports on record and currently it has 10 operational airports and 14 under construction, as per the Aviation Minister’s announcement.
Rating: Misleading — 
