Doubts over night ops at Madurai airport raise concern

MADURAI: Uncertainty in night operations at the airport in Madurai raises concerns among passengers and business stakeholders.

In October last year, the AAI announced that the Madurai airport would be operational round the clock. More than a year has gone by, but there is no sign of any development.

It is also heard that CISF personnel deployed at the airport have been withdrawn by the authority. It is a big disappointment as all hopes of night flights to countries abroad have ended.

Many air passengers hailing from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu largely rely on Madurai airport to be equipped with modern infrastructure facilities to accommodate big aircraft to travel abroad.

Currently, the passengers have been accessing Tiruchy airport to travel to countries of their choice, A Sankar, Chief Executive Organiser, Indian Air Passengers Association, said on Sunday.

As of now, the Madurai airport handles flights to domestic destinations including Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and international destinations to Colombo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"Flight service to Singapore was suspended a year ago for no valid reason," S Rethinavelu, president of Agri and All Trade Chamber, Madurai, said.

Unfortunately, Madurai continues to remain only a customs airport with only two or three international connections. Though it handles the highest number of international passengers among the 12 customs airports in India, it has not yet been upgraded to an international airport, which Madurai richly deserves and is being deprived of.

Except for Sri Lanka, Madurai has not been included in Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) with any other country. Therefore, even if foreign airlines wish to operate direct flights to Madurai, they cannot do so.

Indian carriers also lack sufficient aircraft and pilots. As a result, Madurai has very limited international connectivity. This severely affects agriculture, industry, trade, tourism, particularly medical tourism and export of fresh produce, processed foods, precision vehicle components and cataract lenses (IOL) that are being manufactured in this region, he said in a statement.

With adequate intervention from the State government, these approvals could certainly be secured.

In 2015–16, when the ASEAN bloc of 10 nations sought nominations of tier II and tier III Indian tourism cities to provide direct air connectivity, Madurai—despite its world-renowned attractions such as the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Tirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, Azhagar Kovil, Mariamman Teppakulam, and its strategic location as a gateway to Rameswaram, Kodaikanal, Courtallam, and Kanyakumari — was inexplicably not recommended in the list of 18 tourism cities. Had it been nominated, Madurai would have had unrestricted direct air links by this time with most of the Asian countries, he said.