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M.A. Sriram

Teething problems: The facade of the main terminal building of the Mysore airport. —

R. Krishna Kumar

Mysore, Sept.21 The modernised Mysore airport may not be officially inaugurated until the flight plans of various airlines operating to the city are in place and the authorities are now engaged in talks with the private players to sort out the issue.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has completed the first phase of the airport at an estimated cost of Rs 60 crore, including the main terminal building, runway and taxiway, but the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is yet to inspect the facility to give the green signal.

The Chief Minister, Mr B.S.Yeddyurappa, had announced recently that the Mysore airport would be inaugurated on September 22 but it has now been put on hold. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr P. Manivannan, said that in the view of the Secretary of Civil Aviation, an official inauguration without flight plans would be a waste of public money as technical staff and personnel to man the Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers have to be permanently posted and they would have no work if there were no flights operating from Mysore.

Hence the State Government is now in touch with various players, including Air India, Kingfisher Airlines, Indigo and Paramount. Though the Mysore airport will not be officially inaugurated, the facilities are ready and will be in use for operating chartered and special flights till commercial operations of flights commence.

Meanwhile, the authorities are piqued by the attitude of a few private airline operators who are using this opportunity to bargain for a reduction in sales tax in aviation fuel. The sales tax on ATF is 28 per cent in the State, compared with 4 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. Sources said the State Government may consider cutting the sales tax for the benefit of private players in the airline industry, which has been hit by recession.

The scare created by A(H1N1) influenza too has affected the travel industry and hence private players are reluctant to operate to new destinations until the potential is established.

So Mysore airport is fully ready but at the wrong time, the sources added. However, Kingfisher Airlines will operate six flights from Tuesday till the end of Dussehra on September 28. The inaugural chartered flight with tourists has been a sell-out.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Airlines | Karnataka

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