Mysuru airport has already had its tryst with viability gap funding which initially worked well but subsequently died out. The State government promised to extend viability gap funding to Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air.
It was announced that viability gap funding would be at the rate of Rs. 9.5 lakh per month for one year consequent to which the flights operated regularly for one month.
But soon after, the airlines announced its decision to suspend operations.
It transpired that though the State had initially offered to extend viability gap funding for one year, the facility was withdrawn after one month.
Not withstanding the financial viability or lack of it, Mysuru airport has another lacuna which cannot be easily addressed.
It pertains to the length of the runway. At 1,740 metres, only short haul ATR type of aircrafts with a capacity to carry 50 to 60 passengers can operate from the airport. Bigger aircrafts require a runway of 2,400 metres.
But hemmed in by a railway track on one side and a highway— which has been widened to a four-lane road on the other— the runway length cannot be extended at this juncture as their alignment bisect each other. With not many airlines having ATR type of aircrafts in their fleet – or having it deployed in the more commercially lucrative routes – there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for Mysuru airport, at least for now.
