Air India was the only operator flying its aircraft out of Madurai three decades ago. However, when the Centre came up with open sky policy in the early 1990s, private players started trickling in.
Till a decade and a half back, only three air services were available out of Madurai airport. Air India was operating to Mumbai with a touchdown in Chennai, and Jet Airways was flying two flights to Chennai.
But, a combination of factors have now seen that the tier II airport has been well-connected, in fact, with more number of flights to Chennai than another other tier II cities of the State.
It has got at least 10 flights to Chennai, with three transit flights to Mumbai and Delhi. Besides, the city has air links to other metros like Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
From Sunday, Jet Airways is offering another flight service to Delhi via Mumbai. This is the only direct flight to Mumbai from Madurai.
In the next three days, IndiGo will add two more services from Madurai – one to Chennai and the other to Delhi via Chennai.
“Ever since the Madras High Court Bench came to Madurai, the number of regular fliers has increased. A lot of advocates are flying in and out,” said S. Rethinavelu, senior president, Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Similarly, sporadic development of small and medium-scale industries in food processing, garments, plastic and rubber sectors has led to an increase in the number of domestic passengers.
“The next generation industrial leaders have realised the comfort of travelling by aircraft, which saves them time,” he added.
However, R. Sriram, a leading travel agent, attributed the growth to the advent of low-cost airlines like Air Deccan. “Till Air Deccan came to Madurai, flying was confined to the affluent or the top business class. The no-frills service that offered the lowest airfares encouraged more new fliers,” he added.
“The development of IT industry in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and its main workforce, which is being supplied from the southern districts, also led to a spurt in air passenger growth,” he added.
“There are some IT professionals who travel to their native places for weekends. Besides, a lot of business travel is also taking place after HCL set up its shop in Madurai. It has got some 800 employees here,” he added.
Being a high-priced air sector, Madurai-Chennai sector attracted more flights, and the competition brought the airfare to around ₹4,000 with the early birds getting as low as ₹1,200.
“IndiGo is likely to set new benchmark for airfare in the sector,” Mr. Sriram said.
More number of flights would be good for Madurai airport and also the people of southern districts, said Airport Director V.V. Rao. He felt that increased competition among airliners would lower fares.
International flights
Though Madurai airport was the last among the airports in Tamil Nadu to get international status, it is poised for a rapid development and harnessing international passengers and cargo movement, especially to the Far East and Gulf countries, in the months to come.
At present, it is connected with Dubai (SpiceJet) and Colombo (SpiceJet and SriLankan Airlines).
“On an average, all the three flights are operated with more than 90% occupancy,” said Mr. Sriram.
The main attraction is the migrant workforce to the Gulf from the southern districts and their visiting families. However, tourism, both ways, is the major factor for air travel from and to Colombo.
Besides, Colombo and Dubai serve as transit points for people here to fly to various other destinations such as the US, Europe and the Far East, he said.
Mr. Rethinavelu blamed the Centre’s inaction in including Madurai airport in bilateral agreement for operating flights to favourite destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Sharjah.
Many foreign airlines have already submitted their proposals to operate flights to Madurai. “But, somewhere it is not getting through. In fact, there is no financial commitment for the Union Government on this aspect. International connectivity will help bring more investors to southern districts, especially for Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor,” Mr. Rethinavelu said.
Cargo
With Customs Department handing over custodianship to Madurai airport, international cargo operation is likely to become a reality shortly. “Air India diverted its new proposal of Madurai-Sharjah operation to Tiruchi as it felt that lack of international cargo operation in Madurai airport will hit it economically. Now, more international flights will evince interest to come here,” he added.
Meanwhile, an Air India source said the airliner had given a proposal to operate flights to Singapore, Malaysia and Sharjah as it was going to acquire a new fleet of 14 aircraft.
“We do not have any more opportunity to offer additional flight services from metros, and hence our concentration will be on tier II cities, and definitely Madurai is one. If our proposal materialises, we will soon operate a daily service to Sharjah and also to Singapore and Malaysia on alternate days,” the official added.
Air India is also planning its domestic service from Madurai to Bengaluru.
