Star Air Commences First Direct Flight Between Kalaburagi to Tirupati
Representative image
Star Air yesterday commenced the direct daily flight operations from Kalaburagi, Karnataka to Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) of Government of India.
Inaugurated under the UDAN scheme, Kalaburagi airport recently completed a successful 1 year of service. The airport has become the fastest growing airport in the country. More than 1000 flights have ferried more than 43,000 people from the airport.
MoCA had received numerous requests for the commencement of the flight operations on the route including an appeal by the Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI) for the necessity of the direct flight operations from Kalaburagi to Tirupati.
Due to the unavailability of any direct transportation mode between these two cities, people had to travel either by road or had to opt for a rail journey combined with a road trip, which took more than 12 hours by road & more than 20 hours by train & bus to cover the entire journey of 630 km. Now, people can opt for a direct flight and cover this long-distance journey in just 70 mins.
The airline, Star Air was awarded the Kalaburagi – Tirupati route under the RCS-UDAN-3 bidding process last year. The airline will be operating three weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer-145 luxury aircraft. With the flag-off, there are now 24 routes under the ambit of RCS-UDAN for Star Air.