Begin typing your search...
Chopper services for islands, hilly towns soon: Jayant Sinha
In 2017 alone, 70 new airports had been opened in small towns across India that were otherwise not connected through air, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told reporters, here on Wednesday.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Speaking about the success of the Udaan Scheme, Sinha said that he was here to fly in the first flight to Mysuru and then inaugurate the Mysuru airport. The Minister claimed that focus was given mostly to areas that did not have sufficient rail and road connectivity, especially the North Eastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands etc.
“For islands and towns surrounded by hills, we are also planning to open helicopter services at an affordable price,” Sinha said. He added that while several private carriers were initially reluctant to operate flight services to smaller towns in the first phase of the scheme, a number of private carriers have now expressed their intent to participate in phase two of the scheme after its success.
Addressing a press conference before inaugurating a flight service from Chennai to Mysuru, Sinha said that the greenfield airport was envisioned to take care of the air traffic needs of the city for the next 30 to 50 years.
While the Minister did not specify an exact location for the greenfield airport, sources at the Chennai Airport said that the ministry was looking for land in Madhuranthagam, Acharapakkam and surrounding areas. The earlier proposal for a greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur had to be shelved after it ran into acquisition problems and other issues causing inordinate delays in execution of the proposal.
“Chennai airport presently services approximately two billion passengers a year and this is expected to increase soon to 3.5 billion passengers in the coming years. To enable the city airport to service its customers better, the Civil Aviation ministry has allocated Rs. 2,500 crore to modernise the domestic airport buildings and also to connect the domestic and international airports using a walkalator,” Sinha said.
He added that they were waiting for a contractor to hand over the work which is expected to be completed in 26 months.
Besides Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchy and Madurai airports are also to get a facelift as various new schemes have been implemented.
The Minister also said that as part of the Prime Minister’s Udaan Scheme of connecting new airports, flight services from Chennai to Hosur, Neyveli and other small towns would commence soon.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
