Hubballi Airport bags award under Regional Connectivity Scheme

HUBBALLI: Two years after it was refurbished and upgraded into a world-class facility at a cost of Rs 145 crore, Hubballi Airport has more than justified the investment by bagging the ‘Best Airport Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)’ from Wings India-2020.
North Karnataka is one of the regions that has reaped rich rewards of RCS, and Hubballi Airport has played a crucial role in serving as a transit point for speedy travel to and from the region. The award, instituted by the Union ministry of civil aviation along with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), is in recognition for the quality of service that Hubballi Airport has offered for its many passengers.
Under the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (udan)’ scheme, flights, at affordable prices, are being operated from Hubballi by Air India, Indigo and Star Air. In the past two years, the number of flights to and from Hubballi has been steadily climbing. Most of these flights connect Hubballi-Dharwad with other urban centres such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hindon (New Delhi) and Goa. Stakeholders affirm that improved connectivity has had a perceptibly positive influence on the industrial sector.
Hubballi Airport director Pramod Kumar Thakare is understandably jubilant with the award for the terminal. “It is very satisfying that our hard work has yielded results. AAI lays down specific criteria, and performance of airports is assessed based on these. Airports must have good infrastructure, amenities for passengers and other key facilities,” Thakare told STOI.
Hubballi Airport pipped 57 other terminals that were vying for the honour, he added. “Operations at our airport have been expanding with each passing year. Hubballi Airport registered a growth in traffic of 500% in 2018-19 compared to 2017-18, whereas transport of passengers rose by 800% in the same period. In 2019-20, that is up to January, we have serviced 4.2 lakh passengers, which is an improvement on our figures of last year,” Thakare added.
He said that Indigo would commence operations of two more flights from Hubballi, to Mumbai and Bengaluru starting March 29. “We are confident that more airlines will start to operate more flights in the days to come from hubballi,” the airport director said.