The Hindu Business Line : Mysore airport may benefit auto, floriculture sectors

Mysore, Sept. 17 Mysore airport, slated to be inaugurated on September 22, is expected to benefit the automotive components and floriculture sectors. This could offset scepticism over the financial viability of the airport and the passenger load factor of flights operating out of Mysore. Mr Suresh Kumar Jain, Secretary, Mysore Industries Association (MIA), said: “Mysore makes a sizeable contribution to the floriculture industry, which has not been adequately documented.

The absence of airport has hampered its growth. The same holds true for manufacture of automobile components, all of which are dispatched via Bangalore, and this can be avoided.”

The absence of an airport cost Mysore a major industrial unit in Otis Elevators, he said. Some years ago, the company had procured land, constructed the approach road to their premises and put up a fence around the plot on the assurance of Mysore airport becoming functional. Since the airport project never took off, the company dropped its plans.

Traffic potential

Mysore expects movement of industrialists between the city and Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. Mr N. Bhanuchandran, an industry analyst, said Mumbai held out promise, particularly with the prospect of returning the same day.

Chennai can be viable only if the airline operators can offer competitive rates. “Chennai is well-connected to Mysore by night trains and the airline operators will have to offer competitive rates to wean away the regular travellers,” he added.

Mr Jain pointed out that the State Government’s plan to hold an investors’ meet in January 2010 in Bangalore would coincide with the creation of a land bank of nearly 5,000 acres in Mysore, for which a survey has been completed.

Dry wasteland has been identified for the purpose and the two things that investors look for is land and an airport, both of which would be ready. Mysore is also the hub of Infosys’ global education centre and the IT bellwether company can be expected to generate significant passenger traffic while the city’s reputation as a tourist centre – with more than 2.5 million tourists visiting the city annually – can augment traffic volumes.

MIA survey

Meanwhile, MIA will circulate a questionnaire among industrialists and other stakeholders in Mysore and generate data pertaining to passenger traffic to convince private airlines about the feasibility of operating flights to and from Mysore.

Mr. N. Narendra, Managing Director of Vinyas Innovative Technology, which provides electronic manufacturing solutions to electronic hardware industry, made it clear that he would be the happiest if he can skip Bangalore and fly directly from Mysore.

It is a sentiment endorsed by many of his foreign clients who fly in to Bangalore and drive down to Mysore.

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