Karnataka’s Kalaburagi airport gets approval for night landing facility in big boost to flights

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the night landing facility at Kalaburagi Airport in Karnataka, according to information provided by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry today.

There has been a demand for providing night landing facilities to the airport for a long time. With the DGCA’s approval for the night landing facility granted on 17th May, the Aerodrome License for the airport has been amended from VFR (Visual flight rules) to IFR (Instrumental flight rules) for All Weather Operations, the official statement said.

The Kalaburagi Airport was inaugurated on November 22, 2019, by the then Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa. It has a runway of 09-27 (3175m x 45m) and an apron that has the capacity to park three aircraft including one Airbus A-320 and two ATR 72/Q-400 planes.

The airport is serviced by 28 flights a week to Bengaluru and Tirupati. Star Air and Alliance Air are the two airlines that operate flights from and to the Kalaburagi airport.

The airport became operational under the Modi government’s UDAN Scheme (Ude Desh ka Aam Admi) which has come as a big boon to passengers by providing them air connectivity, with airlines getting viability gap funding for operating flights to these small airports. It forms part of PM Modi’s vision of the common man traveling by air at affordable and subsidized airfares and promoting economic development in remote regions.