Yediyurappa opens Kalaburagi airport in north Karnataka
Kalaburagi : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday opened the state-run Kalaburagi airport in north Karnataka, connecting Bengaluru and other cities and towns across the state and the country, an official said.
“The Chief Minister expressed happiness to inaugurate the new airport for which he laid the foundation stone over a decade ago on June 14, 2008, and hoped the air connectivity will immensely contribute to the socio-economic development of the region in the state,” the official told IANS quoting Yediyurappa in Kannada.
Kalaburagi is about 580 km north of the state capital Bengaluru.
Spread over 567 acres of farmland near Srinivas Sardagi, the airport has a 3.25 km runway, making it the second longest in the state after the international airport in Bengaluru.
“Yediyurappa landed from Bengaluru in a chartered aircraft to flag off the airport from where private budget carrier Star Air commenced operations to Bengaluru three days a week,” said the official.
The airport will soon be connected to Bellary, Bidar, Belgaum, Hubli and Mangaluru in the state, and to Hyderabad and Mumbai, subsequently.
“As night landing facilities are yet to be installed, flight services will be during the day time from dawn to dusk,” the official added.
Why was Hubli airport a failure? The reason is that in order to make an airport to be commercially viable it takes more than just what the government can do in terms of providing infrastructure etc. A lot depends on the private players who are willing to take a massive gamble because you have to burn money every day to ensure your airline survives. We have seen plenty of airlines having gone bust due to not considering this fact in the last few years/decades. There is another important player in this equation and that is the passenger. If he/she can… Read more »