Airlines base, helicopter services in city

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, May 29:

FlyBig will establish its base at Chikalthana Airport where the flights will station during the night and fly in the morning. After starting the flight for Hyderabad, the Airlines will soon start the flights from the city to Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Tirupati, Nagpur, Indore, Udaypur, Jaipur and other cities. Along with the flight services, helicopter service will also be started from the city and two helicopters will be stationed at the airport, informed union minister of state for finance Dr Bhagwat Karad.

He was speaking during the inauguration of the office of FlyBig Airlines at Chikalthana Airport on Sunday. MLA Atul Save, regional executive director of ministry of civil aviation Radhakrishnan, deputy secretary Mrutyunjay Sharma, FlyBig Airlines director Capt. Sanjay Mandviya. Industrialist Rishi Bagla, Mansingh Pawar, airport director D G Salve and CISF assistant commandant Pawan Kumar were present on the dais.

Dr Karad further said, the city is on the verge of development. The possibility to generate power at Harsul and Savangi Lakes is being checked. Two officers of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) are in the city to study the circumstances and a DPR will be prepared after it. The municipal corporation will get cheaper power from it.

Similarly, there is a plan to establish a floating solar system to generate power at Jayakwadi. It will save the 33 percent evaporation of the water and cheaper power can be provided to the farmers and industrialists. Permission for it has been sought from the state irrigation minister Jayant Patil.

Meanwhile, the city will have air connectivity with around 20 various destinations in the coming days, Dr Karad added.

MLA Save congratulated the FlyBig officers for starting the services from the city and demanded that there is a severe need to start a morning flight for Mumbai. The Chikalthana Airport will get more facilities if added in the Udan scheme, he said.

Radhakrishnan said, Chikalthana Airport has all the facilities and the international service will be started soon. After the expansion of the Airport, any big flight can land here. Some air routes from the Chikalthana Airport can be included in the Uddan scheme.

Sharma said, the attempt are being taken to joint two and three-tier cities with various destinations. Air services will start from the city to various destinations soon.

Capt. Mandaviya said, after starting the Hyderabad service from the city. The airlines is planning to start air services from the city to various destinations within six months. Pune and Mumbai will be the next destinations to be connected soon. A request has been made for the slot for Mumbai. Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Tirupati, Gondiya, and Indore will be connected soon. Two flights will be stationed at Airport at night for which the fuel and hanger facilities will be needed.

Medicines will be exported

Dr Karad expressed his dissatisfaction with the delayed Cargo project. He said, the project has not received the expected response. For exporting the medicines, a drug inspector has been appointed at the airport and hence it has cleared the way for exporting medicines by air. In the new expansion plan, only 100 houses will be demolished instead of 1200 houses in the previous plan. The open land of farmers will be acquired for the expansion, he said.

Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture president, Shivprasad Jaju, Marathwada Association of Small Scale Industries and Agriculture (MASSIA) president Kiran Jagtap, Vyapari Mahasangh president Vijay Jaiswal, industrialists Vivek Deshpande, Pritish Chatterjee, Saurabh Bora and others were present.