First Flight between Sindhudurg and Mumbai takes off

Mumbai: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradiya M. Scindia virtually flagged off the first-ever flight between Sindhudurg and Mumbai today. The inaugural event was conducted in hybrid mode where Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray flagged off the flight from the Sindhudurg Airport, in parallel. Scindia flagged off the flight from the greenfield airport Sindhudurg under "Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik" Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN-RCS), said a statement.

Sindhudurg is one of the 21 Greenfield Airports to be set up across the country for which the Government of India had given approval earlier. Greenfield Airport is a term used to identify a new airport, built from scratch. A total of 271 hectares of land has been used to build this Greenfield airport at Chipi-Parule in the Sindhudurg district. The estimated cost of the entire project is Rs 520 crores. Construction started on February 19, 2013, by IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, under Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. One terminal has been inaugurated today, adds the statement.

The first flight was flagged off from Sindhudurg Airport (SDW) to Mumbai (BOM) today. “Due to this airport, a distance of 530 km will be covered in just 50 minutes; we should have 20 to 25 aircraft (direct/connecting) for Sindhudurg, in the next five years,” Scindia stated while speaking about the many benefits of the new airport. He also assured that his Ministry will extend all possible cooperation for the development and progress of the airport in Maharashtra.

Scindia also applauded the Government of Maharashtra for the new airport. "I congratulate the Maharashtra State Government and MIDC on the inauguration of Chipi Airport. The glorious history of Konkan and Sindhudurg region and its beauty has now come on the map of air transport through the inauguration of this airport today.” He remarked that the inauguration of the airport in Sindhudurg district has fulfilled a three-decades-old dream.

Remembering Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, he said that Maharashtra has a glorious history. He also shared that this was an emotional moment in his life. Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane expressed that "the inauguration of Chipi Airport in Sindhudurg district was a very happy moment in his life and that it will be very useful for the Sindhudurg district." He also mentioned that the inauguration of this airport would bring economic prosperity to the district through tourism.

Indian Oil Aviation today fuelled the first flight of Alliance Air at Sindhudurg Airport to mark the inauguration of this greenfield airport. The government has allocated Indian Oil for making refuelling arrangements at Sindhudurg Airport. State-of-the-art refuelling arrangement has been made by the Aviation Wing of Indian Oil at Sindhudurg Airport for taking care of fuelling arrangements of all schedule and non-schedule Airlines.

Union Minister Ramdas Athavale said that Sindhudurg Airport is very important for the development of the Konkan region. During the event CEO, Alliance Air, Vineet Sood handed over the first boarding pass of the flight from Sindhudurg, to the union minister Scindia in Delhi and CM Thackeray handed over the boarding pass to Maharashtra Industries Minister Subash Desai, in Sindhudurg.

So far, six Greenfield airports namely, Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh and Kalaburagi in Karnataka have been operationalized in the country.