Resumption of Bengaluru-Bidar flight services: Minister MB Patil asks officials to submit proposal in two weeks

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 18 (ANI): MB Patil, Minister for Infrastructure Development, Karnataka on Wednesday instructed officials to discuss with private civil aviation service providers the resumption of flight service between Bidar and Bengaluru, which has been halted. He asked for a proposal to be submitted within two weeks.
Patil issued the directive during a high-level meeting at Vidhana Soudha, attended by Eshwar Khandre, Forest Minister and in charge of Bidar district, and Rahim Khan, Minister for Municipal Administration.
Patil directed officials to hold consultations with aviation service providers to restart 72-seater flights.
Eshwar Khandre explained that civil aviation services to the border district of Hyderabad were launched with an Indian Air Force flight in 2020 following strong demand from the people of the region.
The service was subsequently halted and then restarted in 2022, but it has been completely stopped since last December. Service providers have cited the discontinuation of the subsidy under the UDAN scheme as the reason for the stoppage.
They have expressed willingness to restart services if the subsidy is extended. "Given this, the state government should consider providing a subsidy to service providers," Khandre urged.
Dr N Manjula, Secretary of Infrastructure Development, and Satish, MD of Infrastructure Development Corporation, were also present at the meeting. (ANI)