Upgraded Belagavi Airport inaugurated

September 15, 2017: The upgraded Belagavi Airport was inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

Belagavi and its vicinity is home to popular tourist destinations like Kamala Basti Fort, Kapileshwar Temple, Sidheshwar Temple, Ramtirth Waterfalls and Kittur Fort etc.

The city is 502 kilometre from Bengaluru and 200 kilometre from Goa Airport. It is one of the 20 cities selected in the first phase, for development as a smart city under the Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission.

The upgradation work was taken up in February 2015, which involved extension of the runway, construction of a new isolation bay, taxiway, apron for three A-320 aircraft and new ATC tower among other things. The runway has reportedly been extended by 475 meters to 2,330 meters, which would allow it to handle Airbus A320.

Besides, the New Terminal, a centrally air-conditioned building, with an area of 3,600 square metre has a capacity to handle 300 peak hour passengers at a time. It has all essential passenger friendly amenities and conveniences and is provided with CUTE-enabled Check-in Counters, Baggage Conveyors, Elevator, Public Address System, Fire Fighting & Fire Alarm System, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), CCTV, Baggage scanners and Car parking etc.

While inaugurating the upgraded terminal building, Raju said, “Belagavi is an important city in the state of Karnataka. With the upgraded airport, the city is all set to cater to more air passengers from the region. Since Belagavi is amongst the first 20 cities being transformed into smart cities, this was a much needed development.”

Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah said, “It is a matter of pride for all of us that Belagavi is on the path of being developed into a smart city, this upgraded airport will play an important role in that transformation. The Airport building is well attuned to the future’s growth and requirements.”

The upgraded terminal building has many green features like double insulated roofing system, provision of sky light system for energy savings, part LED lighting, low heat gain glazing, energy efficient chillers, usage of fly ash bricks, sewage treatment plant, re-use of treated water for horticulture purposes, variable frequency drive high capacity motors, all the green features aptly seconding the government’s initiatives towards ‘Green India.’

At present, Belagavi Airport has two daily flights connecting Bengaluru and Mumbai Airports with Q-400 type of aircraft. Belagavi Airport handled close to 1 lakh passengers during the year 2016-17.

Photo Caption: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union ministers Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Ananth Kumar among others at the inauguration of the upgraded Belagavi Airport