Devotees of Saibaba can hope to fly to Shirdi from the next month

Sai Baba devotees can rejoice as the new airport will make it easier to reach Shirdi. Shirdi airport will be the first airfield developed and managed by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) in Ahmednagar district, officials said.

 





In the first half of 2017, the plan is to have four to five domestic flights daily with direct connections between Shirdi-Mumbai, Shirdi-Delhi, Shirdi-Hyderabad and more such cities. In the later half, MADC plans to have international flights as well.

A sum of Rs 340.54 crore had already been sanctioned by the ministry of civil aviation for the airport.

"A runway stretch of 2,500 meter is ready along with a large terminal building spanning 3,000sqm. Last month, a sum of Rs 40 crore was sanctioned for extending the runway by 700 meter, the work for which has been initiated. In addition to the same, the ATC (air traffic control) tower and systems are in place. All efforts are being made to give the airport an international look as we want to start international flights from this year," the official added.