22.9.17

Shirdi airport is ready to handle commercial flights

After a long wait, the Shirdi airport is finally ready to handle commercial passenger flights and not just the smaller turbo prop aircraft, even the narrowbody jets like the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737. The airport is located in Kakdi village, which is about 14 km to the southwest of the temple town Shirdi.

Once the new airport starts operations, the travel time to Shirdi from Mumbai is expected to reduce to just 40 minutes as against five hours by road. The DGCA has granted aerodrome licence to the Shirdi airport in Maharashtra for day operations. It has ensured the compliance of all relevant standards. The airport can then be operational between sunrise and sunset.

According to sources, Air India's Alliance Air plans to launch flights from Mumbai and Delhi, while regional carrier Trujet will air-link Hyderabad to Shirdi. Spread on 400 hectares, developed by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company at a cost of about Rs.350 crore, the airport had received an “in principle approval'' from the ministry of civil aviation in 2011. According to an estimate about 60,000 pilgrims visit Shirdi every day, of which the airport authorities plan to tap at least 10-12 per cent.

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