Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will provide flight connectivity from Mysuru to Kalaburgi from December 27, according to a release. However, it is not a direct flight and would be via Bengaluru.
The new route was introduced in lieu of the Mysuru-Kochi sector which has been suspended till March due to runway works at Kochi international airport.
The new route is under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) and it is a daily flight. The airline will deploy its 70-seater aircraft on this sector.
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The release said Flight 9I 897 will depart from Mysuru at 8.30 a.m. and reach Bengaluru at 9.10 a.m. The aircraft will depart as Flight 9I 509 from Bengaluru at 9.50 a.m. to reach Kalaburgi at 11.25 a.m.
In the return direction Flight 9I 510 will depart from Kalaburgi at 11.50 a.m. and reach Bengaluru at 1.30 p.m. It will fly as Flight 91 898 and depart from Bengaluru at 2 p.m. to arrive in Mysuru at 2.50 p.m.
On Tuesday Flight 9I 897 will depart from Mysuru at 10.25 a.m. and arrive in Bengaluru at 11.05 a.m.. Flight 9I 509 will depart from Bengaluru at 11.40 a.m. to reach Kalaburagi at 1.20 p.m. Flight 9I 510 will depart from Kalaburgi at 1.45 p.m. to reach Bengaluru at 3.25 p.m. Flight 9I 898 will depart from Bengaluru at 3.45 p.m. to reach Mysuru at 4.40 p.m.
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The authorities said this will ease connectivity to Kalaburagi and could drive tourism as the place is known for Khwaja Banda Nawaz Dargah, Sharana Basaveshwara Temple, Ladle Mashak and Buddha Vihar. It also has a fort built during the Bahamani rule apart from domes. Alliance Air currently connects 59 destinations, and with the addition of Kalaburagi, there will be 60 stations in Alliance air’s ambit, the release added.
Mysuru airport has gathered steam with as many as 14 flight movements – both inward and outward – under the regional connectivity scheme of the Central government. There are plans afoot to have air links to more destinations including Coimbatore, Shirdi, Mangaluru and Tirupati. At present the Mysuru airport can handle only the ATR aircraft with short range in view of the short runway (1740 metres) and hence a DPR for runway extension to 2400 metres and expansion of the airport etc is being finalized. Once completed, the airport can handle bigger aircraft for long-haul flights.