Hubballi Airport: ₹273 crore okayed for terminal expansion

The terminal of Hubballi Airport is expected to have the capacity of handling as many as 1,400 passengers at a time by the first half of 2026, as the Union Government has now approved the proposal for the expansion of the terminal at a cost of Rs 273 crore.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, who is also Dharwad MP, on Saturday informed that Rs 273 crore is approved for the expansion of the Hubballi Airport terminal which would be spread over 20,000 square metres (ground and first floors together).

"Terminal expansion works will begin in January, and it is targetted to be thrown open for the the use of passengers in two years," he said, adding that the expanded terminal would have the capacity to handle over 1,400 passengers (arrival, departure) at a time.

The expanded terminal would have modern facilities including three aerobridges. The airport would be developed comprehensively including the expansion of runway and apron, Joshi said in a press release. Meanwhile, efforts would also be made to get more flight services to connect Hubballi with more cities, he noted.

The present terminal, which started functioning in December 2017 after it was constructed as part of the airport upgradation project of Rs 142 crore, is spread over 3,600 square metres of area, and it can handle 300 passengers at a time. Then, the runway was expanded from 1,674 metre to 2,600 metre, and a new air traffic control (ATC) tower was also constructed.

At present, Hubballi Airport handles flights connecting this place with Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune. In 2022-23, this airport recorded 5,742 aircraft movements, carrying 3,22,701 passengers.

Karnatak Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) president Vinay Javali reacted that the expansion of the terminal can be seen as a step towards upgrading Hubballi Airport into an international one in coming years, and such developments boost the growth in the region.
Industrialist Ramesh Patil observed that single entry and other such problems are there at the present terminal, and the expansion of the terminal is required for offering better service to passengers whose number is increasing.
With more industries and other institutions coming up in the region, number of passengers and flights at Hubballi Airport are going to increase, and terminal expansion would be useful, Patil added.