The first civilian flight will land at Shivamogga airport on Thursday, fulfilling a long-held wish of the residents. An Indigo flight will depart from Kempe Gowda International Airport in Bengaluru at 9.50 a.m. and arrive at Kuvempu Airport at 11.05 a.m.
Among those aboard the first flight are former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who played a major role in fulfilling the project, Minister for Infrastructure Development M.B. Patil, Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra and others. Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa, who is also Minister in-charge of the district, will receive the guests at the airport.
Shivamogga district administration and the Department of Infrastructure Development have made arrangements for a formal programme on the occasion on airport premises. KSRTC has introduced bus services on the Shivamogga-Kachinakatte Route to help passengers reach the airport at Sogane. The people of Kachinakatte welcomed the new bus service by offering prayers to the bus on Wednesday.
Mr. Madhu Bangarappa visited the airport on Wednesday and inspected the facilities put in place to ensure the smooth running of the flight operations. Interacting with the media, the Minister said: “Nearly ₹500 crore has been spent for the project. It will be successful if more flights operate from the airport. I am hopeful that the number of flights will increase in the coming days. And this will attract fresh investment and boost tourism”, he said.
The airport project has been pending for decades. When B.S. Yediyurappa was Deputy Chief Minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition, he showed interest in taking up the project. However, it took years to materialise. Initially, it was planned at an estimated cost of ₹220 crore to accommodate ATR-72 flights. Later, it was modified to accommodate Airbus 320 flights, increasing the project cost to ₹449.22 crore. As a result, the length of the runway was also increased from 2,050 m/30 m to 3,050 m/45 m. Nearly ₹248 crore has been spent on the runway alone. The project was completed earlier this year, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on February 27, the birthday of Mr. Yediyurappa. At present, flight operations connecting Bengaluru and Shivamogga will start. Soon, the flights connecting Shivamogga to Tirupathi, Goa and Mumbai are expected to start.
Congress leaders, including MLC Manjunath Bhandary, had alleged corruption in implementation of the project. BJP leaders, including Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra, maintained that they were ready to face the inquiry into the allegations.
Mr. Madhu Bangarappa, reacting to a question on the allegations of corruption, said that the government would probe all the substandard work executed by the previous BJP government.
