The Kurnool airport at Orvakal was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, two months after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave its nod to open it for public use. The airport has been named after Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, a freedom fighter from the region which now falls under Kurnool district.
The YSRCP government has proposed making Kurnool, a major town in the Rayalaseema region, the judicial capital of the state. IndiGo is set to start flight services from the Kurnool airport on March 28, with flights to Bengaluru, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. On all three routes, flights will be operated four times a week, authorities had said.
Inaugurating the airport, CM Jagan said that the airport is prestigious for the judicial capital. “It’s a historic day for Kurnool district, which now has flight connectivity.”
The Kurnool airport is the sixth in the state, which already has international airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati, and domestic airports at Kadapa and Rajahmundry. The Kurnool airport will have space for parking four aircraft at a time, Jagan said.
Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy is hailed as an important freedom fighter who is believed to have led the first rebellion against British rule in the present Andhra Pradesh region, in 1847. Speaking about the decision to name the airport after him, Jagan said that before other well-known incidents from India’s freedom struggle, “on the soil of Kurnool, 100 years before India became independent, the first struggle for freedom took place. Back in 1847, a great freedom fighter who fought on behalf of farmers and created fear in the hearts of colonisers, named Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, came from this land. This airport is being named after him as a tribute.”
Actor Chiranjeevi, who essayed the role of Narasimha Reddy in the 2019 film Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, expressed his joy over the decision to name the airport after the freedom fighter.
Heartened & Overjoyed at the Hon'ble CM @ysjagan 's announcement naming #KurnoolAirport after the Firstever Freedom Fighter of India #UyyalavadaNarasimhaReddy Much deserved recognition to the greatest patriot & unsung Hero.Was fortunate & honored to play the great soul on screen
— Chiranjeevi Konidela (@KChiruTweets) March 25, 2021
Read:
Earlier in January 2019, former CM Chandrababu Naidu had also formally inaugurated the airport. However, Jagan stated during his speech that the airport wasn’t entirely ready for operations at the time, and the previous inauguration was done merely as a spectacle ahead of the 2019 Assembly election.