The Kingfisher Airlines has started daily Bangalore-Hubli-Bangalore and Hubli-Mumbai-Hubli flights from Monday.

The plane will take off from Bangalore airport at 8.30 am and land at Hubli airport at 9.30 am.

The same aircraft will depart from Hubli for Mumbai at 10.10 am and land at Mumbai airport at 12.05 pm. It will take off from Mumbai at 12.50 pm and reach Hubli at 2.25 pm. The aircraft will leave Hubli at 2.55 pm and land at Bangalore airport at 4.15 pm.

The fare for the Bangalore-Hubli flight is Rs 2,525 and between Hubli and Mumbai, it is Rs 3,025 (non-refundable). The fare with the refund facility is Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 respectively, according to Hubli airport authorities.

The cititizens of Hubli will find Kingfisher's flights from the Hubli airport a boon as they were not happy with the existing services which has had complaints of irregular operations.

The regular flight service from Hubli airport to Bangalore and Mumbai is expected to boost efforts to attract investors to Hubli and Dharwad.

The government is making efforts to develop Hubli as the industrial hub of North Karnataka and a lack of air connectivity was a reason for the investors' reluctance to consider Hubli a destination.

The Karnataka cabinet has approved the proposal of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation to allot 53 acres of its land to IT/ITeS companies. Karnataka Revenue Minister Jagadeesh Shettar said, the allotment letters would be issued to selected companies.

The development is the sequel to the IT Investors' meet held at Hubli in May 2006 to project Hubli as the Tier II investment destination for IT/ITeS sector in view overstretched civic infrastructure and land scarcity in Bangalore.

The HDMC had set aside the land near Rayapur, between Hubli and Dharwad, through a resolution passed unanimously at its council meeting in July 2006 and sent a proposal to the government.

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