Travelling to Shirdi Sai Baba will now be more comfortable for Nagourians as Air India will begin daily flight operations between Pune-Shirdi-Nagpur from February 18.
This will be a newly added route to Shirdi airport which were till now operating flights for Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai.
“There was a demand from devotees in Pune and Nagpur to start direct flights to Shirdi. All the required formalities have been completed by the Airport Development Authority and Air India will be providing service,” said Sushilkumar Srivastava, Shirdi Airport Director.
After being shut due to the pandemic, Shirdi airport resumed operations in October 2021. The airport has two flights from Bengaluru and one each from Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad.
“The flight from Pune will halt at Shirdi and then proceed to Nagpur. The return flight from Nagpur will also be on the same day,” said Srivastava.
To make night landing facilities available, IMD visual range installation has been going on at the Shirdi Airport. “Work is going on in full swing and soon we will be able to provide a night landing facility,” said an official from Shirdi Airport.
Sai Baba devotees from the city have welcomed the decision as there are many who visit the temple every week. “I am happy that air travel will make my journey comfortable and due to air connectivity I can also plan my business trip to Pune as per convenience. It will save my travelling time,” said a regular commuter.
