Belgaum : Rajya Sabha member Iranna Kadadi raised the issue of Belgaum airport in the ongoing budget session of Parliament in Delhi and expressed the pain of Belgaum airport.
The Udan-3 scheme was launched in 2018 at Belgaum Airport, established by the Royal Air Force in 1942. Under this scheme, 5 airlines started services to connect 13 cities. A large number of air traffic was started under this scheme.
Similarly, the progress of Belgaum airport was also strong. Air services connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Nagpur, Nashik, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Tirupati, Pune, Harappa, Mysore and Surat to Belgaum were operational till December 2022. Before the implementation of the Udan-3 scheme, Belgaum airport was carrying 74041 passengers per year while 1176 flights were operating.
After implementation of Udan-3 scheme, 6470 flights with 28000 passengers have been operated by aviation during 2021-22. Keeping in view the aviation traffic at Belgaum Airport, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation honored Belgaum Airport with Udan Award Championship in the list of busiest airport in 2021.
The duration of the flight plan for the airport in Belgaum is 3 years. According to this, this scheme will end in the year 2023 and due to non-cooperation from the flight scheme, airlines such as TrueJet, Space Jet, Alliance have canceled their services to various places. As a result, the people of Belgaum are getting hit. Rajya Sabha member Iranna Kadadi has raised a question in the budget session today regarding the loss due to canceled flight services.
Belgaum Airport, which is ranked third as the busiest airport in the state, is in trouble and the people of Belgaum are blaming it on the public representatives. Passengers are preferring the neighboring Hubli and Kolhapur airports as services at Belgaum airport have been cancelled. BJP leaders were accused of canceling services at Belgaum airport to increase flights to Hubli airport.
Also, citizens were also expressing displeasure as citizens could not take advantage of air services despite the implementation of the Udan scheme. Iranna Kadadi has raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha by taking up this issue. Will this pain presented to Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Union Ministry fall on the path of Belgaum Airport? Will Jyotiraditya Scindia take notice of Iranna Kadadi issue? Will services at Belgaum airport be restored? And will Belgaum Airport see its earlier days? Such questions are being raised by citizens.
