President Ram Nath Kovind, on his 71st birthday, inaugurated the new Shirdi Airport in Ahmednagar and the inaugural Alliance Air commercial flight to Mumbai.
The inauguration of the airport, developed by Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC), also marks the start of the year-long centenary celebrations of Shri Saibaba Samadhi for which over 11 million pilgrims are expected from around the world.
Permitted initially for daytime operations by the DGCA, the new airport will slash the travel time between Mumbai and Shirdi, around 240 km apart, from six hours to barely 45 minutes.
Constructed on an investment of around Rs 350 crore, including Rs 50 crore from the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, the airport, with a 2,500 m-long runway, is capable of handling single narrow-body aircraft, such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737s.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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