KURNOOL: It was a moment of joy and exuberance for the district authorities as well as the passengers who arrived at the newly inaugurated Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Airport in Kurnool. As the first flight (IndiGo 6E7911) with 52 passengers from Bengaluru touched the ground, ministers and district officials cheered the arrival of the first flight by waving the national flag and welcomed the passengers with saplings and mouth-watering sweets. The passengers too expressed joy for being one among the first to travel on the maiden flight to Kurnool.
After being inaugurated by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri (virtually) on March 25 under the regional connectivity scheme —Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)—flight operations began at the Narasimha Reddy Airport as the first passenger flight landed here from Bengaluru at 10.10 am on Sunday. Direct flight operations to Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Chennai, which began on the first day is expected to bring the region closer to the major hubs in South India. Flight services to Vijayawada and Tirupati will also begin soon.
Pilot of the flight, Veera, who was born in Kurnool, expressed satisfaction over the high standards maintained at Orvakal airport. A passenger SMD Sarif said it used to take 15 hours by bus to reach Visakhapatnam from Kurnool. But, now it takes only a couple of hours to reach Vizag, he added.
Special welcome to six-year-old passenger
The airport authorities celebrated and gave a water cannon salute to the first flight as it touched ground. A special welcome was given to six-year-old passenger Prateeksha who stepped out of the flight on the Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Airport on Sunday morning