COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu’s first airport developed under the UDAN scheme in Salem has been operating successfully, with flight services to various destinations, achieving good occupancy.
Flight services to Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad and Chennai have an occupancy of 70 to 80 per cent. “Now demand persists for one more flight service to Chennai during the morning hours. We have approached a couple of airlines to introduce services from Salem to either Chennai or Bangalore,” said I Noushad, Director of Salem Airport.
The Salem airport, which had remained idle for a long time, was opened for flight services under the UDAN I scheme in 2018, but services were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Flight services resumed once again under the UDAN 5.0 scheme in the year 2023.
Nevertheless, the tremendous success of the existing flight services has kindled hope among flyers to increase further services to stimulate the economic growth of this region.
“Land acquisition to carry out runway expansion works should be expedited to facilitate the arrival of large-bodied aircraft and provide night landing facilities to launch services to international destinations. Introducing flight services to Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai may be beneficial for passengers, especially exporters, business class people and tourists in this region.
In addition, warehouse facilities should also be developed to store and export agro-based perishable goods by flight,” said K Mariappan, past president of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association.
Echoing a similar demand, SS Yuvaraj, past chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said night landing provisions should be developed to enable overnight halts by connecting flights to take off in the morning to sought-after destinations like Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.
“The current boom in the IT sector in tier II and tier III cities has also enhanced the scope for flyers from neighbouring districts of Dharmapuri, Salem and Namakkal to rely on the Salem airport. Many chartered flights are already coming to Salem airport,” he said.
Against such growing demand, the Salem airport may soon get a boost in its infrastructure, with the state government issuing a GO sanctioning funds primarily for land acquisition. Towards the expansion of Salem airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has projected a land requirement of 460 acres in three phases and earmarked 170 acres in the first phase.
“The state government has sanctioned Rs 360 crore to take up runway expansion and other upgradation works to facilitate night operations and parking facilities in the first phase. And, in the second phase, the AAI will take up construction of new buildings and also extension of the runway,” said I Noushad, Director of Salem Airport. The existing 6,000-foot runway is proposed to be extended by over 10,000 feet.