Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2023, inaugurated the Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka and took a walk-through of the facilities. The Prime Minister said that the airport in Shivamogga was being inaugurated at a time when the enthusiasm for air travel was at an all-time high in India.
“The new airport is going to open doors of development for Shivamogga, the land of nature, culture and agriculture,” he said.
The new airport is developed at a cost of around Rs 450 crore. The passenger terminal building of the airport can handle 300 passengers per hour, and around 7,200 passengers daily. The new airport will improve connectivity and accessibility of Shivamogga and other neighbouring areas in the Malnad region. Built under the UDAN scheme of the central government, the Shivamogga airport is the 9th domestic airport in Karnataka. The airport also boasts of having the second-largest runway in the state at 3,200 metres.
“The Shivamogga Airport is designed like a lotus flower, and it is built at a cost of Rs 450 crore. It is suitable for A-320-type aircraft. This airport is spread across 758 acres of land. The night landing facility is also available at this airport which will start after some time,” Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a series of tweets.
Shivamogga is a gateway to the Malenad region which is famous for the Western Ghats and home to greenery, wildlife sanctuaries, rivers, the famous Jog Falls and Elephant Camp, Lion Safari in Simha Dham and the mountain ranges of Agumbe.
The PM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 3,600 crore during his visit to Shivamogga, Karnataka.
(Header image source: pmindia.gov.in)
