BENGALURU: Flight operations took off at Shivamogga airport in Karnataka on Thursday with an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru landing at the airport.
74 passengers on board, including former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa were on the maiden flight, which landed at Kuvempu airport, located 8.8 km from Shivamogga in Karnataka.
The IndiGo Airlines flight, which took off at 9.47 a.m. from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) reached Kuvempu Airport at 10.44 a.m., 21 minutes before its scheduled time.
Flight no 7731 received a water cannon salute and a rousing welcome by passengers when it reached the brand new airport which is named after Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanapith award.
The project was launched by PM Narendra Modi on February 27 this year.
Yediyurappa, an eight-time MLA from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district, had laid the foundation stone for it on June 15, 2020. His son and Shivamogga MP BY Raghavendra and other family members were on board along with State Infrastructure Minister M B Patil and Shivamogga MLA Channabasappa and former Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa.
The original launch date of August 11 was postponed after the DGCA withdrew its Bomb Threat Contingency Plan no-objection certificate issued for the airport.
Gautam Musinipalli, who works as a senior developer at JP Morgan in the US, was the first passenger to hop on board the flight from Bengaluru. The aviation enthusiast makes it a point to travel on every inaugural flight launched from airports within Karnataka. “The whole trip felt awesome. It is an excellent airport and has a huge runway for a small airport which holds out much potential for the future.”
A grand function was organised inside the Kuvempu airport premises.
The former CM addressed the crowd.
Passengers were given mementoes with welcome cards.
The scheduled take-off for flight 6e 7732 was at 11.25 p.m. from Kuvempu to Bengaluru but the flight left only by 12 noon.
“Most of the passengers barring those of the former CM’s family chose to fly back,” Musinipalli told TNIE. The flight reached its destination at 1.05 p.m.
The first phase of the airport was built at a cost of around Rs 450 crore. It has a 3,200-metre runway. Short-distance routes have been planned for its initial stages.