In good news for devotees visiting the Saibaba Temple, night landing services have begun at the Shirdi Airport. The first flight from Hyderabad to Shirdi landed at the airport at around 9.20pm on Sunday. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol took to X (formerly Twitter) to make the announcement.
Mohol wrote, "The 'night landing' service has started at Shirdi Airport on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa and this will definitely help in increasing the number of devotees coming to Shirdi. Moreover, the industrial development of Shirdi and its surroundings will also be boosted and this will have a positive impact on the economy of this area. Therefore, the start of the 'night landing' service at Shirdi Airport is an important step not only for Shirdi but also for Ahilyanagar and the surrounding districts.
"The process of starting the 'night landing' service was started under the guidance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A meeting was held at Shirdi Airport to review all the ATC (Air Traffic Control) permissions required for starting the 'night landing' facility, the provision of CISF personnel and the recarpeting of the runway. In addition, the relevant departments were also informed to complete the work on time. Moreover, detailed discussions were held with the authorities regarding the commencement of the 'night landing' service before March 31, 2025, and today, this service has been successfully started a day ahead of the scheduled date," he added.
Reportedly, the night landing licence was granted to the facility in February 2023. However, the airport couldn't start it because airlines weren't interested.
Until now the airport was operational from 10am till 6pm.
