MADURAI: Agro Food Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AFCCI), Madurai, has thanked the Civil Aviation Ministry for announcing a round-the-clock operation at Madurai airport.

The Chamber is pleased with the communication sent to all the airliners by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), that effective from the start of the winter 2024 season (by the end of October 2024) Madurai airport would be operational round-the-clock.

Earlier, the office bearers of AFCCI under the leadership of its president S Rethinavelu met the Chairman of AAI, M Suresh during his visit to Madurai on September 1 and insisted on the need for round-the-clock operations at Madurai airport, which currently operates from 6.55 am to 9.25 pm, only.

The fly-by-night operation would enable the airport to get more international connectivity leading to the economic development of southern districts of Tamil Nadu, Rethinavelu said on Tuesday.

Further, Rethinavelu said the Madurai airport has all the infrastructure for night landing and take-off. With fingers crossed, he said Air India Express might introduce a mid-night direct flight to Kuala Lumpur.

He also hoped that the demand to upgrade the Madurai airport to international status would be acceded to in the coming days.