Sri Sathya Sai Airport is located at Puttaparthi in the

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Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The airport is named after Sathya Sai Baba, a spiritual guru and philanthropist. It is a small airport with facilities for chartered flights rather than commercial aircraft. The airport was inaugurated in 1990 to serve the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences during emergency situations. The airport's 1000-metre-long airstrip and terminal building were constructed by L&T ECC. The runway was later extended to enable the operation of larger jet aircraft.

History

The Sri Sathya Sai Airport was opened on 24 November 1990 to provide emergency air service to the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, as well as commercial service for visitors to Prasanthi Nilayam, Sathya Sai Baba's ashram located in the village. Until 2006, the Sri Sathya Sai Airport had scheduled flights to

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and to

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airport operated by Indian Airlines. From 2006 to 2008, Indian Airlines operated flights to Puttaparthi as a stopover for their Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam services. Indian Airlines also offered flights to Bangalore thrice a week in 2005. On 12 November 2005, the Indian low-cost carrier Air Deccan commenced operations from and to Hyderabad and Chennai twice a day. Delhi-based charter airline Jagson Airlines also began service to Puttaparthi from Chennai in 2007, before they ceased in 2008. Kingfisher Airlines served Puttaparthi from Hyderabad and Bangalore from 2007 until 2008, when all scheduled flights to Puttaparthi ceased. The airport continues to serve the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi for emergency purposes, and hosts dignitaries who visit Prashanti Nilayam and the surrounding area.

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Airports in Andhra Pradesh Buildings and structures in Anantapur district Puttaparthi Transport in Anantapur district 1990 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Airports established in 1990 20th-century architecture in India {{authority control

History

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