Two Indian airports— Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka and Utkela Airport In Odisha— have welcomed their first commercial flights! After being inaugurated, it is the first ever flight operation that they have conducted. Here are the details of Shivamogga Airport and Utkela Airport welcoming their first flights.
Odisha’s Utkela Airport Welcomed Its First Flight!
Glad to flag off first flight between #Bhubaneswar and newly inaugurated Utkela Airport in #Kalahandi district. The airport has added yet another golden chapter to #Odisha‘s aviation sector. It will boost connectivity, commerce & tourism, fulfilling aspirations of people of the… pic.twitter.com/5TbWvei7qM
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 31, 2023
After the DGCA gave its approval, the Utkela Airport in Kalahandi, an area of Odisha where tribal people predominate, received its inaugural aircraft from Bhubaneswar. Around 10:05 am this morning, an IndiaOne Air flight with 9 passengers departed from Bhubaneswar towards Utkela Airport. The first person to fly from Bhubaneswar to Utkela was Minister of Commerce and Transport Tukuni Sahu.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, virtually launched flight services from Delhi. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik signalled the start of flight operations from the airport in Bhubaneswar. At Utkela Airport, officials including Bhawanipatna MLA Pradipta Kumar Naik, Kalahandi MP Basanta Kumar Panda, and others welcomed the flight.
Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar was the departure point for the scheduled aircraft, which departed at 7:15 am and landed at Utkela Airport at 8:25 am. At 8:50 am, the same aircraft left Utkela and landed in Bhubaneswar at 10 am.
Shivamogga Airport In Karnataka Commenced Flight Operations
The first Indigo flight to arrive at the Shivamogga Airport.
welcomed through a water salute… pic.twitter.com/WTq7E9E5DA— M B Patil (@MBPatil) August 31, 2023
The first domestic commercial flight touched down at Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka on Thursday afternoon, nearly six months after it was opened. The aeroplane that flew from Bengaluru to Shivamogga and on board were former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyuarappa, state minister for industries MB Patil, and other prominent figures.
Karnataka Minister MB Patil shared the video of the airport’s first commercial flight on social media platform X. This meant a big step towards the development of the state. The initial response to the flight service has been encouraging, according to him, who also noted that tickets have already been reserved for the following three weeks.
In Karnataka, Shivamogga is IndiGo’s sixth destination. According to an earlier statement by Indigo, Shivamogga will be the newest town for Indigo in Karnataka, following Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mysore, Mangaluru, and Belagavi.
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This direct flight will improve intrastate accessibility while connecting Shivamogga to important domestic and international destinations via Bengaluru.
Cover Image Courtesy: @dooraprakash/ Twitter & @Naveen_Odisha/ Twitter