In its quest to build world class aviation facilities in the state, the state government in Maharashtra has called upon the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to speed-up the development of the Kolhapur airport project. In fact, the state government has requested the ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to expand the airstrip and start night-landing facilities as quickly as possible. The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd. (MADC), a subsidiary of the state government, is keen on making the Kolhapur airport operational this fiscal and has decided to pursue the issue with the Union government. On this score, the state agencies are keen to expand the runway to 1,800-metres, said Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of MADC, Vishwas Patil, elaborating that the Kolhapur airport was under the state government till 2015 and then transferred to the AAI for further development, however progress remains slow till date, he claimed.