Maharashtra: Airport at Shirdi gets licence for night landing

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has welcomed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s decision to grant the licence. File pic

Religious tourism at Shirdi got a further boost on Thursday as the airport there has been given a licence for night landing. This is good news for the devotees of Sai Baba who want to travel to the place after sunset. The development comes after the religious site was connected to the Samruddhi Mahamarg in December and the Vande Bharat train last week.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has welcomed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's decision to grant the licence and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The green field airport was completed in Fadnavis's last tenure as the CM in 2017, but it was allowed only day-time landing. Henceforth, those wishing to attend rituals in the wee hours at the Sai Baba shrine can travel at night.

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"Fadnavis has followed up with Scindia for a licence as early as possible. The licensing is another achievement of the Shinde-Fadnavis government," said a statement from the Dy CM's office, adding that the facility will begin by March-April this year, after charting out the summer time table. So far, Shirdi operates 13 flights daily.

The statement said that the night landing will not only ease travel, but also boost the development of the area. "The number of devotees are expected to rise and make the local economy even stronger," said the statement.