1st Shivamogga flight to take wing 165 days after Modi ‘inauguration’

Maqsood Maniyar |NT

Bengaluru: Shivamogga’s Kuvempu domestic airport will host its first flight a full 165 days after the official 'inauguration' of the facility by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27.

IndiGo announced on Thursday that they would launch daily flights between Bengaluru and Shivamogga on August 11.

However, the supposed launch of the airport has some fuming as it cost the state exchequer Rs 21.06 crore, which was more than twice what was expected, as per State government documents.

The 'inauguration' of the airport on February 27 had only symbolic importance as it was the birthday of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who has Shivamogga ties. The previous BJP State government had even sent a proposal to the Centre to name the airport after Yediyurappa, which didn’t bear fruit.

The former CM had himself opposed the gesture out of humility. Moreover, it wasn’t lost on observers that the airport was one of Modi’s many inaugurations and official visits to Karnataka in the lead up to the Assembly elections in the state on May 10, which the BJP lost by a huge margin.

In an official statement, IndiGo said that Shivamogga would be its sixth destination in Karnataka after Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, and Belagavi.

“We announce Shivamogga as its 79th domestic destination and 109th overall destination in the 6E network. The airline will operate non-stop daily flights between Beng aluru and Shivamogga, starting August 11, 2023,” it said.

PM delays again?

It is not the first time that Modi has advanced or postponed inaugurations so as to make himself visible as the face behind grand infrastructure projects.

The construction of the savvy 'airport-like' Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal in Byappanahalli in Bengaluru was completed in 2021 but wasn't officially inaugurated because of pandemic-related restrictions.

More than a year after its completion, Modi inaugurated the facility on June 20, 2022. In fact, the terminal commenced operations on June 6, 14 days before the inauguration.