Members of various industry and trade bodies have urged the Union government and the Airports Authority of India to ensure that the number of flights operated from Belagavi airport is not reduced.
Some members of Belagavi Cloth Merchants Association (BCMA) and Traders Forum, Belagavi, met S. Thiyagrajan, Director of Belagavi Airport in Sambra and requested AAI to take urgent action against the proposed reduction in the number of flights.
They said the sudden reduction in air connectivity would affect trade, commerce, industry, education and investment in the region. They urged the authorities to immediately resume services on the 13 UDAN routes sanctioned in 2019, stressing that Belagavi has consistently demonstrated strong passenger demand and business viability.
Subhash Patil, Senior Superintendent (Technical) briefed the members on the progress and operational planning of the new terminal building and explained the phased transition and allied facilities. Assuring the delegation of full cooperation and support, Mr. Thiyagrajan said that efforts would be made in collaboration with the stakeholders to restore the connectivity of Belagavi Airport and revive its earlier status. Satish Tendulkar, President BCMA, Traders Forum, Secretary Mukesh Khoda, members including Mukesh Sanghavi, Nitesh Jain, Raju Paliwala and Lalchand Chapru were present.
With the announcement of UDAN 3.0 routes on 25 January 2019, Belagavi became one of the most popular cities in the program with 13 approved routes – the highest for any city at that time. Subsequently, Belagavi was directly connected to 15 cities, including 12 non-stop destinations and 3 one-stop services.
Earlier non-stop flights connected Belagavi with Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Nagpur, Jodhpur, Nashik, Indore, Tirupati and indirect flights to Kalaburagi via Tirupati, Kishangarh via Surat and Nashik via Pune. They were operated by various agencies like IndiGo, SpiceJet, Alliance Air, TruJet and Star Air. Some of the approved routes have been suspended for various reasons.
However, concerns were raised when Star Air’s website did not show open bookings for Jaipur and Ahmedabad as of January 15. Star Air has grounded two Mumbai flights from December 25.
Meanwhile, Star Air has clarified that it is accepting bookings on the Belagavi-Ahmedabad route from January 15. But there is no clarity about Jaipur route.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 21:25 IST
