The Puducherry airport will receive its first flight on January 17, which will arrive from Bangalore. It will be an ATR flight operated by SpiceJet.
At present, there will be three flights a week on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The first flight will arrive in Puducherry at 1.10 p.m. and depart from the newly constructed terminal at 1.30 p.m. on January 17.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with government officials and officials from the Airports Authority of India, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said that if the traffic to Puducherry was high enough, they would request the airlines to operate flights on four days. It was also possible that they would increase the service to seven days a week, depending on demand.
According to an official of the AAI, the Bangalore to Puducherry flight on Thursday was running full, at present.
The authorities were also prepared to inaugurate a terminal building on the same day. All equipment and preparations for the inauguration were in place.
According to a release from SpiceJet, the connection would help people travelling to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Bookings for flights to Puducherry were now open.
The airline would be using a Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the Bangalore-Puducherry route. The aircraft can accommodate 78 passengers, the release said.
Tourism Minister P. Rajavelu and top officials from the Tourism, Public Works and Police Departments were present at the meeting.
