Jet Airways has reportedly expressed keenness in launching a service in the Tiruchi – Mumbai sector.
Sources said that the private carrier is reported to have submitted its proposed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for plan approval. The DGCA has asked comments from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) regarding the proposal before according clearance. The AAI has in turn sought comments from the authorities at the Tiruchi airport.
Sources said the local airport authorities appear to be equally keen on offering positive comments to the plan. The Tiruchi airport has domestic connectivity to Chennai with the Jet Airways operating four flights a day in this sector. The authorities were keen on giving appropriate slots to the private carrier’s plan to operate a new service. Once the clearance from the DGCA is obtained, the airline was expected to operate a Boeing 737 type aircraft which could accommodate nearly 150 passengers in the afternoon.
The service is expected in the winter schedule. This development comes at a time when both international and domestic passenger traffic growth at Tiruchi airport has been on the upswing steadily. The domestic passenger traffic is expected to rise if the new plan were to take off. There has been tremendous demand from the travel sector and passengers to augment domestic connectivity to key cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi.
Heeding the demand from the travellers, the Tiruchi airport authorities had written letters to a couple of private airlines last year appealing to them to operate services in the Tiruchi – Mumbai – Tiruchi sector.
National carrier Air India had operated a service to Mumbai from Tiruchi a few years ago. It was withdrawn later. A few days ago another private carrier IndiGo had expressed its keenness to operate new services in the Tiruchi – Chennai and Tiruchi – Bengaluru sectors. A top level delegation had visited the airport and interacted with officials of the AAI here ascertaining complete details regarding the Tiruchi airport.
