Now Reading: Shivamogga Airport faces flight halt from Nov 21 as StarAir halts bookings
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Shivamogga Airport faces flight halt from Nov 21 as StarAir halts bookings
Shivamogga Airport faces flight halt from Nov 21 as StarAir halts bookings
The Story in Brief
Shivamogga Airport, operational for the past three years, is likely to have no flight operations from November 21. StarAir, the only airline still flying from the airport, has not opened bookings for flights after that date, indicating it may suspend services. IndiGo and SpiceJet have already stopped operations at the airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023.
StarAir has been operating flights to Hyderabad, Tirupati and Goa for three years. Airport officials said the airline stopped bookings because the three-year subsidy period under the UDAN scheme ends on November 21. The company has not formally informed the airport whether it will continue or stop. SpiceJet suspended its Chennai and Hyderabad services on June 9, 2026, and IndiGo withdrew its Shivamogga-Bengaluru service on May 1.
Officials said the lull would be temporary, as a revised UDAN scheme with a five-year term is expected early 2027. KSIIDC chairperson S.G. Nanjayyana Math told The Hindu that the airport, built with an investment of ₹450 to ₹500 crore on about 700 acres (total investment estimated at ₹1,000 crore at current land prices), would remain unutilised. The KSIIDC has proposed 13 routes under the revised scheme, and the tender process is under way.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The suspension of all flights from Shivamogga Airport leaves passengers without air connectivity from one of Karnataka's newer airports, built at a cost of ₹450 to ₹500 crore. The immediate cause is the end of the three-year UDAN subsidy period for StarAir, the last operating carrier. With no airline committed to continuing, the airport faces a period of disuse until the revised UDAN scheme, expected early 2027, starts. The KSIIDC's proposed 13 new routes under the revised scheme are still in the tender stage, meaning no firm timeline exists for resumed operations. The state's decision on extending the subsidy, as KSIIDC has proposed, will determine whether any airline restarts services before the new scheme takes effect.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
