Shivamogga Airport open to serve the public from today; IndiGo is set to land first

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Shivamogga airport is all set to serve the public from Thursday with IndiGo Airlines being the first flight to land at 11:05 a.m.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the airport, which was named after a renowned Kannada poet Kuvempu, on February 27. The first domestic flight, IndiGo, will fly from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport at 9:50 a.m. and land at Shivamogga airport at 11:05 a.m.

Ministers including MB Patil, and Madhu Bangarappa, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, MP BY Raghavendra, and other public representatives from the Malnad region will be in the flight, marking the inaugural.

With this, Shivamogga airport will become the first to be operated by the state government. Minister MB Patil said that there was a good response to the flight service and the tickets are booked for the next three weeks.

It will be the sixth destination for IndiGo in Karnataka and the direct flight service aims to improve intrastate connectivity. The foundation for the airport was laid by former CM Yediyurappa in June 2020 and has been built at a cost of Rs 449.22 on 663 acres.

The passenger terminal building at the airport can accommodate 300 passengers per hour. The airport also has the state’s second longest runway, measuring 3200 meters, after KIA, and can accommodate aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, with the capacity to handle approximately 200 passengers during peak hours.