During his ongoing visit to Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a direct flight between Colombo and Varanasi.

This  announcement was welcomed by Buddhist monks in Varanasi. It is hoped that  the new flight connectivity will give rise to spiritual tourism along the Buddhist and Hindu holy circuit.

This flight will make the air journey from Varanasi to Colombo cheaper by around 40%,  with a travel time of five hours. This will  link Buddhist sites in India including  Sarnath ,Bodh Gaya and Kushinagar, as reported by the Economic Times.

The joint secretary of Mahabodhi Society of India in Varanasi,  and incharge of Sarnath unit Medhankar Thero informed that Sri Lanka had operated flights for Varanasi earlier. He further said, "Now India is starting its flight for Colombo from Varanasi, which will facilitate Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims to reach Sarnath without wasting time and also increase the flow of Hindu pilgrims to Sri Lanka to visit places associated with Ramayana age."

The tourists who prefer a leisurely stay have a choice of  eight-night trip not only to Varanasi, but also to Kushinagar, Sravasti, Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Kapilvastu, Lumbini, and Rajgir.

The statistics given by Tourism department indicates higher footfall as about  55% of foreign tourists who visit Varanasi also visit Sarnath and Kushinagar.

It shows that Colombo- Varanasi flight will surely boost the Indo- Sri Lankan tourism on this ancient cultural connection.