The temple town of Shirdi in Maharashtra came on the air travel map of the country, as President Ram Nath Kovind threw open the newly-constructed airport there.
After inaugurating the Shirdi International Airport, the President flagged off the inaugural flight from Shirdi to Mumbai.
With the induction of air services, the travel time to Shirdi from Mumbai is expected to reduce to 40 minutes as against five hours by road at present.
There will initially be six return flights daily to Shirdi, including four from Mumbai and one each from New Delhi and Hyderabad.
While Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air will operate a maximum number of return flights, Hyderabad-based TruJet and IndiGo and plan to operate flights to Shirdi.
Developed by Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) at a cost of Rs 350 crore, the Shirdi airport – spread over 400 acres -- has a 2,500-metre runway, a 3,000 sq meter swank terminal building, an Air traffic control (ATC) tower and all other communication and infrastructure. The airport can handle narrow-body aircraft like Airbus A-320 and Boeing B-737s.
The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST), which manages the famous Shirdi temple, has invested Rs 50 crore in the airport project.
More than 40,000 to 50,000 pilgrims visit the Shidi temple every day and the number of pilgrims visiting the temple on weekends and special occasions increased multi-folds. The MADC plans to tap at least 10-12 per cent of the pilgrims visiting the temple town all through the year.
later in the day, the President also inaugurated the centenary year celebrations of the Samadhi of Shri Sai Baba in Shirdi.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said: “,Sai Baba attracts people from every caste, religion ,sect and class. Using simple phrases like ‘Sabka Malik Ek Hai’,Sai Baba explained the philosophy of ‘Advaita’ to the common man .The influence of Sai Baba can be seen all over the world”.
The President said that along with spiritual connectivity, the country also needed physical connectivity through large infrastructure projects.
Commending the news building of the airport as a measure that would help pilgrims and visitors as well as trigger economic activity and job creation in Shirdi, the President hoped that people in large numbers would use the Shirdi International Airport.