Maharashtra: Sindhudurg airport likely to open from October

Possibly from October, people would be able to fly in and out of Malvan as the under construction Sindhudurg Airport at Parule-Chipi is likely to be ready in a month’s time.

On Friday, Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu reviewed the on-going work of the greenfield airport at Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra. 

The construction of the taxiway, apron and isolation bay has been completed and work on the airfield ground lighting is underway. Around 80% of construction work of passenger terminal building, Air Traffic Control tower and the technical building has been completed and the remaining work will be through in a month’s time. 

Similarly, the work on the construction of ancillary buildings is almost nearing completion and will take a month to finish. The Sindhudurg Airport will have a 2,500-meter runway or 2.5 km on a plateau, which has provision for future development.

This airport that is being constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 520 crore is likely to be connected under government’s year-old UDAN-RCS (Ude Deshka Aam Naagrik- Regional Connectivity Scheme). Construction is being done by IRB Infrastructure Developers.

According to Prabhu, this airport will not only provide better connectivity to Maharashtra’s Konkan region but also boost tourism. Connectivity to the areas of north Karnataka, western Maharashtra and parts of Goa will also improve.

Presently, Maharashtra has three functional international and 13 domestic airports.