Bidar put on aviation map with launch of first direct flight to Bengaluru

The launch was under UDAN scheme; TruJet will operate the daily flight to and from Bidar and Bengaluru

Bidar on Friday was put on the aviation map of India after the first direct flight from the city to Bengaluru under the UDAN scheme was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola.

TruJet will operate the daily flight to and from Bidar and Bengaluru.

It will leave Bengaluru at 11.40 AM and reach Bidar at 1.05 PM.

The return flight will leave Bidar at 1.25 PM and reach Bengaluru at 3.15 PM, an official release said.

It said the airport has been remodeled at a cost of Rs 11 crore under the union government's Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN)

The cost was shared jointly by the state and central government, it said.

Kharola said the newly built airport inks the "commitment and perseverance" of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to establish substantial air connectivity in India.

The inauguration of Bidar airport marks the operationalisation of the eighth airport in the Karnataka region, said the press release.

Prior to Bidar, flight services from Kalaburagi to Bengaluru had been started last year.

The release said MoCA undertook the task of remodeling Bidar Air Force Station for commercial aviation purposes as people frequently had to undertake a 11 hour journey by either train or bus to Bengaluru for all administrative work.