Karnataka's Shivamogga Airport To Be Operational From 31 August — First To Be Run By The State Government

Nearly six months after the inauguration of the new airport in Karnataka's Shivamogga, the airport is finally beginning operations from 31 August.

The first flight scheduled to land in Shivamogga on 31 August is an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru. The airport has been named after Karnataka's popular poet Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (Kuvempu).

The first flight scheduled to land will touchdown at 11.05 am in Shivamogga once it departs Bengaluru at 9.50 am.

Among the passengers, ministers from the state cabinet in Karnataka will also be present. This includes ministers like Madhu Bangarappa and MB Patil. Along with them, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and MP BY Raghavendra will be travelling too.

Hindustan Times has quoted MB Patil as saying that the advance booking for the flight to Shivamogga has witnessed a positive response. IndiGo operates in five destinations across Karnataka — Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Mysuru, Belagavi. With the addition of Shivamogga to the list, it becomes the sixth destination on their list.

On the 80th birthday of the former Karnataka CM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Shivamogga airport. This happened earlier this year in February.

Built at a cost of Rs 600 crore, the airport required Rs 449 crore for the infrastructure work and the remaining was spent on land acquisition.

With the inauguration of the Shivamogga airport, there are a total of nine domestic airports in Karnataka including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Mangaluru and Hubballi.