New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri virtually inaugurated the Kurnool airport in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, an official statement said.

Kurnool is the sixth airport in Andhra Pradesh to become functional after Kadapa, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada, it said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and senior officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) were also present virtually at the event on Thursday.

The flight operations at Kurnool airport will commence from Sunday under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), the Civil Aviation Ministry's statement noted. 

"Direct flight operations to Bangalore, Vishakhapatnam and Chennai will bring the region closer to the major hubs in the south India. These routes were approved by the MoCA under the UDAN-4 bid process last year," the ministry said.

Under the UDAN scheme, financial incentives from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and under-served airports, and keep airfares affordable.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)