Ballari-Hyderabad daily flight from September 21

Air services are set to resume at Ballari after many years with TruJet starting a daily non-stop flight to Hyderabad on September 21.

The low-cost airline will operate a 72-seater ATR 600 aircraft under the Union government’s Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN) scheme. The 65-minute flight will leave Hyderabad at 6 am and reach the JSW Airport at Vidyanagar 7.05 am. In the return direction, the flight will leave Vidyanagar at 7.30 am and reach Hyderabad at 8.35 am, VKL Deepak, a representative of Matrix Holidays, the authorised booking agency for TruJet, told DH on Thursday.

As many as 400 people have already made advance booking for the flight. Many more could follow soon, he added.

The last time Ballari was on the aviation map was in the 90s when Indian Airlines operated a Bengaluru-Ballari-Hyderabad service. The service was operated from the airport located on Kolgal Road in Ballari.

The JSW airport was opened in 2003-04 mainly for the convenience of the company’s staff. Later, Air Deccan operated a twice-a-week Bengaluru-Ballari-Goa flight. Afterwards, Kingfishers Airlines operated a weekly flight between Vidyanagar and Bengaluru. The service was then suspended.