Solapur: The much-awaited civil aviation service to Solapur will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26 via video conferencing in Pune. Ahead of the assembly elections in the state, various development works are in full swing. As part of this, the Solapur flight service is being launched in a hurry.
The central government had earlier approved the Solapur flight service in the first phase under the UDAN scheme on June 15, 2016. But accordingly, the UDAN scheme remained on paper for Solapur residents due to lack of necessary facilities at the Chotekhani Airport of Solapur. After that, there was not much activity on the air service for about seven years. But the issue was delayed due to 36 different obstacles for the flight service.
Meanwhile, the 92-metre-high chimney of the co-generation plant of Siddheshwar Cooperative Sugar Factory near the airport was declared illegal by the Solapur Municipal Corporation and demolished on June 15, 2023. A number of other obstacles were also removed. After this, the present District Collector Kumar Ashirwad made various improvements in the airport by keeping an eye on the commencement of flight services. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started the process of granting permission for civil aviation operations from Solapur airport. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had also asked the Solapur airport to complete the necessary work in terms of security. Accordingly, District Collector Kumar Ashirwad personally took care of all the necessary facilities. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was expected to approve the flights in October next year. But suddenly there was a rapid movement from Delhi and the Solapur flight service started a month earlier than expected. On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Pune on September 26, he decided to launch the Solapur flight service through a virtual system. All administrative procedures were carried out on a war footing.
Initially, the Pune-Solapur flight will be launched, followed by Mumbai-Solapur-Mumbai flight. Later, flights to Hyderabad and Tirupati are also expected to start from Solapur. Solapur Airport has a relatively short runway of 2009 meters. The airport will have a capacity of 40 and 72 seats respectively. At present, three civil aviation companies, including Fly 91 and Star Air, are ready to operate flights to Solapur.
